* r(\\ fe 



■i:. 



>- 'v^o^ : 






V 



^» 



^mM: X 












r ^k?^^%^/ 






<^, 



^<?- 



Hq 






^> 



O > 








^^-v. 



^ o -a? ^ 



<?;, • = « o ^ A> 



''^<h- 






.S^"^. 









:^ - '^ 















^ 
V 
















./''X?^-'/ 









'll^^- 



v-^. 







V 






««b^^- ....... 

.0 ^-', ' . - s ' 



0^ c".:".. "o, -,-^'^\'^Jj-/'^^ r.O^ .'Zc;.'^ '^o, .,-b 






'^. A 



r^ * '<^J/^, 



^•■'VVVr''. 






AN OLD RIVER TOWN 



K 

^ 



t:: 



AN OLD RIV- 
E R T O ^W N 

By ADA DOUGI.AS IvITTI.EFlEl.D 



BEING A HISTORY OF 
WINTERPORT, (OLD 
FRANKFORT), MAINE, 
ILLUSTRATED FROM 
PHOTOGRAPHS 



NEW YORK 

CALKINS AND COMPANY 

1907 



tuBRARY of CONfiKisS, 
Two Oopies Kecd'v:c 

I JAN 24 1^08 
lt2cc \1. iqo7 
I COPY a.' J 



Copyright, 1907, by 

CALKINS AND COMPANY 

(A// rights reserved) 

Published January, 1908 
Printed in the United States of America. 



' Often I think of that beautiful town 

That is seated by the sea. 
Often in thought go up and down 
The pleasant streets of that dear old town 

And my youth comes back to me." 

Longfellow. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGB 



To Any Reader xi 

I. The Country i 

II. Along the River 19 

III. Natives of the Soil 31 

IV. At the Water's Edge— in Old Days ... 46 
V. River Crafts 59 

VI. Their Captains 80 

VII. Highways and Byways 97 

VIII. The Settlers and Their Homes 114 

IX. The Settlers and Their Homes (cont.) . . 138 
X. Old Furniture— Tea Tables and Their Ap- 
pointments 154 

XI. House Furnishings and Firesides . . . 162 

XII. In '55 178 

XIII. Smelt Fishing 189 

XIV. Here and There in the Village 195 

XV. First and Last 208 

APPENDICES 

I. Ships Built Here 23X 

II. Sources of Information 237 

III. Index , . 241 

vii 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGI 



The Village To-day Frontispiece , 

Plan of Penobscot River by Martin . . . Opp. 8 

Survey of Town I/Ots in 1808 " . 15 

" The Rhine of America " *' . 20 

Inscription on Ring *' . z6 

Ice-boating on the Penobscot " . 28 ^ 

At the Shore " . 48 

Old Dean House " . 56 

Prom the Post-Office Steps Some Summer 

Afternoon " . 74 

The Old Bangor " . 76 

Fan from I<iverpool— over 100 Years Old. . " . 80 ^ 

Door I<atches— Bolan House " . 82 

Door I/atches— Bolan House " . 84 

The Tommy Johnson House " . 86 

The Bacon Tree " . 104 

A Wedding Gown, Hand Woven, Hand Bm- 

broidered, Hand Made " . 132' 

A Quiet and Elegant Home in 1829 . • . " . 136 , 

A " Four Poster " (Still in use) " . 156 

Mother's Tea Set and the Best Table . . . " . 160, 

A Wattling Stairway " . 168^ 

ix 



Illustrations. 



PAGB 



Old Wall Papers Opp . 170 

"Mary Andrews— Her Sampler " ....*'. 17a 

Hand Embroidered Clothes " . 174 

Wedding Gown of Jane Prince Robbins . . " . 176 

On a Clear Day ; Fort Knox in the Distance " . 178 

Steam Mill " . 181 

The Old Oak " . 19S 

The Town Trough •* . 206 / 



TO ANY READER. 

In this book I have attempted to give sketches 
taken round about the town of Winterport, Maine, 
formerly a part of " old Frankfort." It is not a 
history in the ordinary acceptation of the term. The 
early town records were destroyed by fire so that it 
has been necessary to collect facts of local history 
from records of surrounding towns, old letters, diaries, 
court records and numerous other sources. Many 
anecdotes have been told me; but all historical facts 
I have tried to verify. At the end of the book is a list 
of authorities consulted in its preparation. 

My thanks are due to all those, too numerous to 
mention, who have made the book, for the pleasant 
hours spent in happy reminiscence when only the best 
and brightest side of people was pictured. 

I am specially indebted to Mrs. Frank Haley for 
the use of the Goodwin diary which covered a period 
of many years, for old letters, account books and 
many articles of historic interest; to Mrs. Harriet 
Newell Abbott, for valuable information, for the 
loan of old papers and copies of records, also for the 

xi 



xii An Old River Town. 

use of photographs and furniture; to Mrs. Mary 
Haley, for the use of old papers, books, letters and 
deeds, and for access to articles of wearing apparel, 
dishes and furniture; to Mr. Frank Kelly, for rec- 
ords, letters and charts ; to Mr. E. P. Treat of Frank- 
fort, for information about shipbuilding, for the use 
of manuscript and the chart of Penobscot River. 
Most of the photographs were taken by Miss Helen 
Louise Eveleth. 

The sons and daughters of Maine return now and 
again from every part of the Union to the Pine Tree 
State; and among them come "old residents" of 
Winterport, returning to their homes on the Penob- 
scot. They look for some familiar face and are told 
** Look on the hill," or " He's buried up yonder," 
and their calls are made as often at the cemetery as at 
the old homesteads. To these scattered sons and 
daughters, and to those at home, this book is dedi- 
cated. 

Possibly the present citizens — those who have 
taken the fathers* places — may find in it an inspiration 
to greater achievement because of those who have 
lived before them. The children now, the future 
fathers and mothers, may see that there is self-denial 
and generosity for them to emulate. 

A woman once said to me : '* I tell you there is no 
man here, in this generation, who can come up to 



To Any Reader. xiii 

those men of old for intelligence and public spirit." 
She was wrong indeed. The descendants of these 
** men of old " can and do come up to their fathers in 
intelligence and public spirit. They are right here 
in town, and others are standing first in other places 
as doctors, lawyers, public benefactors, sea captains 
and business men. 

We of the younger generation accept the town as 
it was left us — with its buildings, its churches, its 
libraries, our homes, the streets and trees. We ac- 
cept them, little realizing what they cost in thought, 
labor, money and self-denial ; and our appreciation is 
too small for what they merit. 

If any of the accounts given should attract strangers 
who would offer gold for our treasures, may it be 
refused; one and all they should be kept here and 
cherished for the sake of early memories and the days 
of " auld lang syne." 

Ada Douglas Littlefield. 
Winterport, Maine, 
November First, 1907. 



AN OLD RIVER TOWN 



AN OLD RIVER TOWN. 



THE COUNTRY. 

The town of Winterport lies on the west bank of 
the Penobscot river — latitude 44:38 and longitude 
68:50. It is a part of the old town of Frankfort and 
was incorporated as a separate town in April, 1 860, 
just before the Civil War; and — if stories are true — 
just after a warm local war, the details of which are 
better forgotten. In name we were the losers; for as 
one has remarked, " Frankfort seems to carry with it 
much more dignity," which is true. However there is 
but one Winterport in the United States or in the 
world, for that matter; and it is said that a letter di- 
rected here without the state address will reach its 
destination safely. 

The town covers thirty-six and one-half square 
miles and quite a history might be made if one told 
the story of all the grants, titles, and rulers which the 
land has been under. 

The country was first called Acadia and came 
under French rule in 1 603 when De Mong took pos- 
session. In 1 605 Weymouth planted the cross in the 

1 



2 An Old River Town. 

name of James I, of England. Then Captain John 
Smith explored the northeastern coast in 1614 and 
gave to it the name New England. Under the pro- 
vincial charter made in 1 639, this land was included 
in the Province of Maine. In 1643 Massachusetts 
Bay included all the settlements of Maine and New 
Hampshire. Afterwards the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts took possession of Maine. 

When in 1 773 the one hundred thousand acres 
belonging first to the Ten Proprietors and afterward 
to General Waldo were set off, what is now Winter- 
port was included with Frankfort, Hampden, and 
parts of Swanville, Monroe, and Bangor. The grant 
had been known in turn by the names Muscongus, 
Lincolnshire, and Waldo patent. The patent for the 
land bears the date "y^ Thirteenth day of March in 
ye first year of ye Reign of our Soveraign Lord 
Charles," 1629. 

General Waldo did much for the development of 
the Penobscot valley. Through his influence Fort 
Pownall was built and he was back of the governor 
in his efforts. During a visit to his estate at this time, 
his untimely death occurred and his burial took place 
at Fort Point. No monument marked his resting- 
place but his name lives in two towns, a county, and 
the mountain at Marsh Bay. The historian Drake 
says that his remains were removed to Boston. 



The Country. 3 

Forty thousand acres of his estate came into the 
hands of General Knox. The early years of this 
General were brilliant. It was at the siege of Bos- 
ton that he first came to the attention of Washing- 
ton. He was then given important offices. He took 
part in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandy- 
wine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Yorktown; 
and finally superintended the disbanding of the Con- 
tinental Army. He built a fine residence at Thomas- 
ton hoping to spend his last years there; but ex- 
travagant living forced him to mortgage the property, 
and finally it was sold through Sears, Thorndike, and 
Prescott. Mr. Albert Kelly of this town was agent 
for them. 

A deed dated 1 753 speaks of land " in the dis- 
trict called Frankfort on the east side of Kennebeck 
River in the county of York " ; and one in 1 772 men- 
tions " a new plantation called Frankfort." It was 
voted in the House of Representatives in 1 755 that 
ninety men be employed for scouting, " from New 
Boston to Frankford, and one hundred men from 
Frankford to the Truck House on St. George's 
river." The plantation name of Pownalboro, the 
fifteenth incorporated town, was Frankfort. Then, 
in 1 754, near Dresden, a fortress was erected called 
Frankfort, afterward renamed Fort Shirley. 

Thus Frankfort seems to have been a favorite 



4 An Old River Town. 

name. This may be accounted for by the fact that 
throughout -Maine were many French forts and the 
old name, Frank, was substituted for French, the 
name thus becoming Frankfort. The derivation of 
Frankford may be accounted for in the same way. 

The story of the incorporation of the town may 
be read in the following petitions and acts : — 

" The Hon. Senate and House of Representatives 
in General Court Assembled. 

" The Petition and Memorial of the Subscribers 
Inhabitants of the Plantation of Frankfort in the 
County of Lincoln bounded as follows, Vizt, Be- 
ginning at the South-eastwardmost corner of Belfast 
on ye sea (or Bay) shore from thence running in the 
line of s'd Belfast, to the Northeastwardmost Extrem- 
ity thereof, from thence North to a Large Spruce tree 
on the eastwardly side of Goose pond (so called) 
Marked with a Marking Iron W. P. B. F. two large 
white stones on the westwardly side of said pond. 
Directly in range and bearing due north from s'd 
tree ; From thence eastwardly to Marsh river so called ; 
From thence Down said Marsh river, about a mile to 
Penobscot river; From thence down said Penobscot 
river Southwardly to Fort Point so called ; From said 
fort point westwardly to the first mentioned bounds 
at Belfast. 



The Country. 



" Humbly Sheweth there are now living upon said 
plantation upwards of Sixty Families who Labour 
under great disadvantages for want of being Incorpo- 
rated with Town privileges ; Therefore Humbly pray 
your Honors to take into your wise Consideration our 
Present very disagreeable situation and relieve us by 
Incorporating us, together with the adjacent Island 
of Brigadiers Island so called into a town by the 
name of Knoxbury. 

" Your Petitioners as in Duty bound will ever 
Pray: 



Frankfort, 
"May ye 16. 1789." 



John Odam, 
Benj. Shute, 
Henry Black, 
Jas. Crary, 
Alexander ^oung, 
Samuel Young, 
William Griffing, 
Ichabod Colson, 
Daniel Goodell, 
Jacob Eustis, 
William Pendleton, 
Samuel Griffing, 
Samuel Griffing, Jr., 



Jcimes Nichols, 
David Nichols, 
James Nichols, Jr., 
Barah Ellis, 
Peleg Pendleton, 
John Park, 
Zethan French, 
Ebenezer Griffing, 
Longworthy Lampher, 
Miles Staples, 
William Staples, 
Jotham Staples. 
Thos. Fletcher, 



6 An Old River Town. 

William Hitchborn, William Dickey, 

John Peirce, Joshua Treat, 

Dan Lancaster, John Odam, Jr., 

John Staples, John Sweetzer, 

David Partridge, James Grant, 

Benj. Shute, Jr., Joseph McMann. 
Clark Partridge, 

The " Gen'l Court " took prompt action on this 
petition and June 25, 1 789, passed an act incorporat- 
ing a town by the name of Frankfort, in the same 
year that Washington was elected and inaugurated 
as first president. It embraced all of the present 
towns of Frankfort, Winterport, Prospect, Stockton 
Springs, Searsport, and parts of Hampden and New- 
burgh, which made a very large town. The follow- 
ing is a copy of the Act of Incorporation: 

" Commonwealth 

of 
Massachusetts. 

In the year of our Lord, 
one thousand seven hun- 
dred and eighty-nine. 
" An Act to incorporate the plantation from Bel- 
fast to Wheeler's Mills, West side of Penobscot 
River in the County of Lincoln, into a Town by the 
name of Frankfort. 



The Country. 7 

** Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
Representatives in General Court assembled, and by 
the Authority of the same ; That the Tracts of Land 
bounded as followeth, viz.. Northeasterly on the 
Bay of Belfast, and Penobscot River up said river to 
Wheeler's Mills. Thence by a line beginning at the 
Southeast corner of Belfast and running due North, on 
the eastern bounds of Belfast, until a line running due 
West from said Wheeler's Mills shall intersect the 
same, together with the Inhabitants thereon, be and 
are hereby. Incorporated into a Tovv^n, by the Name 
of Frankfort, and the inhabitants of the said Tov/n 
are hereby invested with all the powers, privileges, 
and immunities which the inhabitants of Towns 
within this Commonwealth do or may by law enjoy. 

*' Also be further enacted that Benjamin Shute, 
Esq., is hereby authorized and empowered to issue 
his Warrant directed to some suitable Inhabitant of 
the s-^'d town of Frankfort, directing him to notify the 
Inhabitants of th- said Town, to meet at such time 
and place as he shall appoint, to choose such officers, 
as other Towns are empowered to choose at their An- 
nual Meetings in the Months of March or April An- 
nually. 

" In the 

" This Bill having had three several readings, 
passed to be engrossed. 



8 An Old River Town. 

" Sent up for concurrence. 

" David Cobb, Sp'kr. 
** In Senate June 24, 1 787, this Bill having had 
two several readings, passed a concurrence to be en- 
grossed. 

" Saml. Phillips, Jr., Presedt." 

However the petitioners were not satisfied with the 
act. The town was too large, the name was op- 
posed ; and again they petitioned the General Court. 
Here follows the second petition, and the plan an- 
nexed was drawn by Joseph P. Martin. 

" The Honorable Senate, and House of Rep- 
resentatives in General Court assembled — 

" The Petition and Memorial of the Subscribers, 
Inhabitants of the Plantation of Frankfort in the 
County of Hancock. 

** Humbly sheweth 
That whereas, the Honorable General Court, did 
by an act passed ye 25th of June 1 789, incorporat- 
ing two Plantations of the west side of Penobscot 
River, viz. from Belfast to Wheeler's Mills: into a 
town, by the name of Frankfort: which for want of 
a true representation of our boundaries being season- 
ably exhibited we presume that an undesigned mis- 
take has been made: as the two plantations are about 



The Country. 9 

sixteen miles in length, and very inconvenient for one 
town. — There are now upwards of sixty families in 
this Plantation. 

*' We therefore, humbly pray your Honors to take 
into your wise consideration, our Present difficult 
situation: and incorporate us, together with the 
adjacent Island, called Brigadiers Island, (separate 
from the other Plantation) according to the follow- 
ing boundaries and plan annexed — viz. : beginning at 
the southeast corner of Belfast, running up the brook, 
to ye northeast corner of said Belfast : thence north to 
goose pond, thence along the shore of said pond, to 
a large spruce tree, on the east side of goose pond, 
marked with a marking Iron W. P. B. F. : thence 
eastwardly to Marsh River: thence east down s'd 
Marsh River to Penobscot River: thence down 
Penobscot River to Fort Point, thence bounding on 
the bay of Penobscot, to the bounds first mentioned, 
into a town by the name of Knoxburgh. 

" Your Petitioners as in duty bound, will pray : 
" Frankfort Plantation, Nov. 28. 1789. 

Daniel Lancaster, John Dwelly, 

John Sweetser, Josh'a Treat, 

Daniel Goodele, Jr., Abraham Mudgett. 

Henry Black, John Cleford, 

John Odam Jur, Jacob Cleford, 



10 



An Old River Town. 



John Odam, 
Alex'r Young, 
Peleg Pendleton, 
David Patridge, 
Wm. Pendleton, 
Isaac Clew^ley, 
John Sweetser, Jr., 
Samuel Young, 
William Dickey, 
Nath'l Tebbets 
Nathaniel Cleford, 
Benjamin Shute, Junr., 
Joseph G. Martin, 
Joseph Boyd, 
Zethan French, 
Samuel Grant, 
William Farley, 
James Scott, 
David Nichols, 
Henry Lord, 



John Staples, 
Miles Staples, 
James Grant, 
Joseph McMann, 
Samuel Griffin, 
John Park, 
Henry Black, Jur., 
Josiah Ames, 
Jacob Eustis, 
Daniel Goodell, 
Ebenezer Griffin, 
Longw^orthy Lampher, 
James Nichols, 
James Nichols, 2nd, 
John Peirce, 
Thomas McMann, 
William Staples, 
Clark Partridge, 
William Hichbom, 
Wm. McLaughlin, 



"In the House of Representatives January 13, 
1790. 

" Read and committed to the Standing Committee 
on applications for Incorporations of Towns to con- 
sider and report. 

" Sent up for concurrance. 



The Country. 1 1 

*' David Cobb, Spkr. 
" In Senate Feb'y K 1790. 
" Read and concurred, 

*' Tho. Dawes, Presedt., Pro Tern.*' 

It is not known just why the name Knoxburg or 
Knoxbury was not given, for both were in honor of 
General Knox, the trusted friend of Washington. 
General Knox and Governor Hancock were not 
friends however and the latter may have used some 
influence in the matter. 

The records report no further action taken on the 
last petition. The first act of incorporation was never 
changed and the name Frankfort was retained. 
Among various conjectures as to the origin of the 
name, one has been that it was named for Frcinkfort- 
on-the-Main in Germany. 

The first survey of the town was known as the 
Chadwick Survey and was made in 1 772. A line 
was run from the Cove straight to the Marsh Stream 
at a point near the spring. (This spring lies just be- 
yond the Guide Board.) The line extended one 
mile back from and parallel with the river. Every 
twenty rods along the line, granite posts were set up, 
dividing it into one-hundred-acre lots. From the top 
of Cobb's Mountain at Bucksport Center the 
boundary of many of these lots may still be seen. 



12 An Old River Town. 

marked clearly by bushes or trees which have grown 
up along the old stone fences. This is knowoi as the 
" Chadwick line." The plan of the survey showed 
houses at the following points : one each on the Samp- 
son and McGIathry lots where were the two earliest 
log houses; one on the Low's Brook lot occupied by 
Low; one on the Dunton lot occupied by Samuel 
Wilson; and one on the lot occupied by Hatevil 
Colson. 

We read of many other settlers who came at about 
this time : William Sullivan, who came from George- 
town in 1774; and Ichabod Colson, who had been 
at Fort Pownall, also settled here. In 1 787 " Tobias 
Oakman of Boston, yeoman " bought land. The 
next year Reuben Goodwin, from a " place called 
Marsh Bay," was selling land. In 1 789 John Bow- 
lin, a shipwright, and Miller Johnston were here. 
The Kemptons, John and Zacheus, were at Oak 
Point. We read also of James Colson; and Moses 
Littlefield, a Revolutionary hero. This same year 
Francis LeBaron Goodwin came from Plymouth 
and his diary gives this account of his journey hither. 

" 1 789 Apr. 14 Sett off with John Kempton 
for the Eastward to look up a Farm to live on. 
Arrived at Penobscot at Wm. Colsons of whom 
I purchased fifty acres of land with an Intent to 



The Country. 13 

live there. We lived on Oak point until ye I st 
of June and then went to Fox Islands to Load in 
Boards. Capt. Bartlet and Holmes came down 
to us and the next day we set off for Plymouth 
— arrived here ye 12 of June." 
Oak Point must have received its name before this 
date. 

A second survey was begun in 1 808 and the field 
notes are under this title. 

" Description of the lots on the 
Ten Proprietors' Patent 
which includes the Town of Frankfort 
in the County of Hancock. 
Containing in the whole 43 1 32 acres. 
Surveyed by 

Seth Herrick Surv. 
Commenced July 26, 1 808 and completed March 
9th. 1816, with Plans." 

TTie following letter tells something of the country 
Mr. Herrick found. 

" To Messrs Thorndike Sears & Prescott as many 
parts of this Patent are very rough surveying and the 
lots in every part have been taken up by the settlers 
in irregular and in some instances intricate form, 
much labor and care have been necessary to obtain 
an exact account of their form and contents. The 



14 An Old River Town. 

timber of many descriptions has been very much cul 
away on this Patent very much diminishing the value 
of many and indeed most of the lots, the principal 
value of some of which consisted therein; and many 
lots will probably be still objects of Plunder among 
some the settlers unless carefully attended. 

Seth Herrick." 

The accompanying chart, though it bears no date, 
gives numbers which correspond with the following 
list of land owners. 

273. William Sullivan's lot, 

274. Nath. Riches lot, 

275. P. Downs lot. 

276. Joseph Wardwell's lot, 

277. Abner Bucknall's lot, 

278. Weldens lot, 

279. Benin. Stubbs lot. 

280. James Stubbs lot, 

281. John Kempton's lot 300 A. and 

150 P. 
(This number is not marked on the 
chart but three spaces are left.) 

282. Widw. Riches lot, 

283. Vinal's lot. 

284. Widw. Lombard's lot. 



\ 




m^ 



^ 



.r 




16 An Old River Town. 

285. No name, 

286. Esqr. Goodwins, 54 A., 

287. Bowlings lot, 
288. 

289. Sampsons lot, 94 A.. 

290. Goff's lot, 

291. Vacant. 

292. John Martins lot, 

293. Esquire Jones' lot, 

294. Johnsons lot 100 A., 
295. Low's lot, 

296. Capt. Oakman's lot, 1 00 A.. 
297. 

298. Esq. Livermores lot, 

299. Grants lot, 

300. Capt. Samson's lot 1 00 A.. 

301. Wm. McGlathry lot, 

302. Blaisdeirslot206 1-2A.. 

303. Tobias Halley's lot 1 1 3-4 A.. 

304. Wm. McGlathry lot. 

305. Clark & Gridley's lot, 

" This list is a description of lots surveyed in town 
of Frankfort A. D. 1808. It was taken from the 
original field books by James Malcolm for Archibald 
Jones Esq." 



The Country. 1 7 

The following description of the survey of Mt. 
Waldo is as prophetic as it is interesting. " This 
large lot is on the noted Mount Waldo alias * Mount 
Misery.' This noble emanance rises to a height 
capable of giving prospect of the sea and country as 
far as the eye can reach. The surface is generally of 
pretty smooth ledge covered by very little soil. 
* * * * The southern declivity is precipitate and in 
most places smooth and on the top is a flat of con- 
siderable extent and very wet swamp. — 

" This Mountain can never be valuable for cultiva- 
tion. It may, however, at some future day answer the 
same valuable purpose in the East as the famous 
Carter's Mountain in the South." 

At this time the town of Monroe was known as 
Lee Plantation. Buckstown was across the river. 
Orrington and Hampden had received their names. 
In Frankfort were " flat rock falls," " Goose Pont," 
" Bauld Hill Cove " and the Plantation of Goshen. 
This last is a fertile, pastoral country and like the 
place in Biblical history still contains " some of the 
best of the land " in town. What we now call the 
Cove, was then North Frankfort. 

Of the sixteen Maine counties we have had the 
good fortune to bear the names of four. A hundred 
and fifty years ago York County embraced the greater 
part of Maine. In 1 760 the General Court of the 



18 An Old River Town. 

Province of Massachusetts Bay defined the boun- 
daries of a new county called Lincoln, with Pownal- 
boro as the shire town. The records for the years 
following this date are now at Wiscassett. Again 
new boundaries were made and the county of Han- 
cock was established. The act establishing this 
county was passed in 1 789 and included Waldo 
Patent with other land. Penobscot became the shire 
town and all records for that time are now at Ells- 
worth. February 7, 1827, Waldo County was es- 
tablished with Belfast as its county seat. 

The colonial governors had a hand in caring for 
our interests. Sir William Phipps, Governor Pow- 
nall, and Gage of Revolutionary fame, were the most 
famous of these. Among our constitutional governors 
are the familiar names of John Hancock, Samuel 
Adams, and James Bowdoin. The first state gover- 
nor was William King. 



ALONG THE RIVER. 

From early descriptions of the Penobscot river, 
we find that explorers hundreds of years ago were as 
greatly impressed by its beauty as are the summer 
tourists of to-day to whom it is the " Rhine of Amer- 
ica." For, in the year 1 556, when Andre Thevet, 
French scholar and priest, had visited the new world, 
the shores of both North and South America, and 
spent some days in Penobscot Bay, he says in his 
account of the voyages — " Having left La Florida 
on the left hand, with all its islands, gulfs, and capes, 
a river presents itself, which is one of the finest rivers 
in the whole world, which we call ' Norombeque,' 
and the aborigines ' Agoncy,' and which is marked 
on some marine charts as the Grand River. Several 
other beautiful rivers enter into it : and upon its banks 
the French formerly erected a little fort about twelve 
leagues from its mouth, which was surrounded by 
fresh water, and this place was named the Fort of 
Norombeque." 

In the next century, Henry IV of France gave a 
19 



20 An Old River Town. 

patent of all the land between Cape Breton Island 
and the Hudson river to De Mong, who visited the 
country, exploring its coasts and rivers. He entered 
the Penobscot and afterward the Kennebec, where he 
took possession in the name of the King of France. 
All this territory was called Acadia. It was this 
voyage and this action of France which so alarmed 
the British Government, that in 1605, it fitted out the 
ship Archangel, to spy on the French, and to estab- 
lish English colonies here. The captain of the vessel 
was George Weymouth who had seen many lands 
and also had been on an expedition in search of the 
Northwest Passage. He came to the Maine coast, 
among the islands, into the river, and finally landed 
near the town of Thomaston. On one of the small 
islands, probably Allen, he set up a granite cross, 
taking possession in the name of the King of England. 
They saw the river with " its gallant coves " in the 
month of June ; and Rosier, the historian who accom- 
panied the expedition, says " I will not prefer it be- 
fore our river Thames, because it is England's richest 
treasure: but we all did wish those excellent Har- 
bours, good deeps in a continual convenient breadth 
and small tide gates, to be as well therein for our 
countries good, as we found them here, (beyond our 
hopes) in certaine, for those to whom it shall please 
God to grant the land for habitation: which, if it 



Along The River. 21 

had, with other inseparable adherant commodoties 
here to be found ; then I would boldly affirm it to be 
the most rich, beautiful, large and secure harboring 
river that the world affordeth." 

At the celebration, 1905, in St. Georges and 
Thomaston, commemorating this voyage, a tablet was 
placed, bearing this inscription : — 

THE EARLIEST KNOWN CLAIM OF 
RIGHT OF POSSESSION BY ENGLISH- 
MEN ON NEW ENGLAND SOIL. 

Among the five Indian captives taken to England 
by Weymouth was one with whom boys and girls 
are familiar in their United States History. After 
falling into kindly hands abroad, he was returned to 
his native country: and Squantum, a Penobscot 
Indian, was the first to speak the word of " Wel- 
come! " to the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth. 

Up to this time I found no account of a traveler's 
coming to the section known as '* old Frankfort " or 
what is the present town of Winterport. But, in 
1 722, in February, Colonel Thomas Westbrook 
came from the mouth of the Kennebec River with 
two hundred and thirty men to ravage the coast. It is 
said they came up the river as far as Marsh Bay and 
cast anchor. They were looking for an important 
Indian village and fort, probably Lett, near the pres- 



22 An Old River Town. 

ent site of Oldtown. Going ashore, they began a 
march thro the forest, " still ascending the river." 
Finding the place deserted they returned to St. 
Georges. This must have taken them through the 
country hereabouts ; and the first view of it must have 
been the same that the traveler has to-day as he 
leaves Bucksport and sails up the river, looking 
straight to the wooded sides of Treat's Point or 
Treat Hill. 

The Indians had paddled up and down the river 
and perhaps touched at this shore, but I find no ac- 
count of the white man's footstep, excepting the 
Westbrook expedition in 1 759. Eastern Maine was 
a wilderness. The fortification of the St. John's river 
left the Penobscot a pathway by which the French 
might carry on their hostilities. For this reason, none 
had dared make a home on its banks. 

Pownall, the royal governor of Massachusetts, like 
his predecessor, had long urged the building of 
a fort on this river. In his message he says : " The 
enemy have now no outlet to the sea but thro the 
river Penobscot, the door being shut in every other 
part. These lands ought to be in our possession." 
It was finally decided to take possession of this river. 
So Governor Pownall came with four hundred men to 
erect a fortification. This was in the same year that 
saw Quebec, Ticonderoga, Niagara, and Crown 



Along The River. 23 

Point captured by the British: and thus France for- 
feited all claim to northeastern North America. 

The governor and his party landed at what is now 
Fort Point and left some men there. With over a 
hundred men he ascended the river to explore. They 
landed above Brewer a few miles, and with ceremony 
buried a leaden plate bearing this inscription: — 

MAY 23. 1759. PROVINCE MASSACHU- 
SETTS BAY. 
DOMINIONS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
POSSESSION CONFIRMED BY THOMAS 
POWNALL, GOVERNOR. 

The party returned. A fort was begun immedi- 
ately which was completed in July and named Fort 
Pownall. This opened up the whole of the river 
valley, which in the words of the governor had been 
" a den of savages and a lurking place for some rene- 
gade French." The commanders of the fort were 
Jeddidiah Prebble and son. Goldthwait and Col. 
Johnathan Buck. 

A later message from the governor says that many 
settlers " wish to go to Penobscot and there should 
be no question about the title of their grants." 

Among the men who helped to erect this fort was 
a Lieutenant Joshua Treat, a gunsmith by trade, who 



24 An Old River Town. 

had been armorer at Fort Georges nine years before. 
Lieutenant Treat understood the Indian language 
and was valuable as an interpreter. A story is told 
that " he paddled up the river in a canoe with Gov- 
ernor Pownall and landed at the Sowadabscook 
stream in Hampden, where he acted as interpreter in 
a conference with the Tarratine Indians and intro- 
duced the governor to the old chief Modockawando, 
which conference ended all troubles with the Tarra- 
tines." Joshua Treat arrived at Fort Point where he 
remained and was one of the first actual white settlers 
on the Penobscot river. In 1 774, Joshua Treat Jr. 
built a log house in Frankfort, lived there for about 
ten years, and then went to live at the " Point Farm." 

There was at this time a " new plantation called 
Frankfort on the east side of the Kennebeck in the 
county called York." 

The Jones History says that Winterport had *' two 
log houses in 1 766 — one on the site of the Sampson 
house and one on the McGlathry place. They were 
owned by Ephraim Grant and John Coulliard." 

Mr. Jones says, " There was to be seen at this 
time ( I 766) the remains of a battery on high head 
supposed to have been built by Baron Castine; a 
hollow place has marked the spot until within a few 
years. None of the French manuscripts speak of 
the Baron's coming here. It was a hundred years be- 



Along The River. 25 

fore that he had come to the peninsula now bearing 
his name, " had erected a safe and commodious 
dwelling," and had taken to himself an Indian wife, 
Mathilde, daughter of the chief, Modockawando. 
Castine the younger made a voyage up the Penobscot 
when he was taking despatches to the Governor of 
Canada in 1 709. There is no proof that he stopped 
here; — but knowing this bit of tradition, we read 
with more interest Longfellow's Baron of St. Castine, 
and Whittier's description of him in Mogg Megone. 

At Abbott place, in this town, is a copy of Will 
H. Low's picture of this *' wanderer from the shores 
of France." The picture is framed in old oak, left in 
the rough. It was cut from a log which was taken 
from the harbor at Castine by the late Noah Brooks 
and Dr. Edmund Abbott in the eighties. The log is 
supposed to be a piece of the old British ship St. 
Helena, which was sunk there in Revolutionary 
times. 

The silent shores could tell many a tale, if they 
would, of noted people who have passed up and 
down the river : of travelers famed in story and tradi- 
tion: perhaps of Champlain or of seekers for the 
fabled fort of Norombega. 

About twenty years ago, while a small boy was 
playing near the ruins of an old wharf at the " lower 
village," at the foot of Mechanic street, he found a 



26 An Old River Town. 

ring imbedded in the mud. The following descrip- 
tion of it was given me by its present owner. — *' It is 
a large one. The man or woman whose finger it 
fitted must have been of large stature. There was no 
stone, but a ' setting ' for a miniature or for hair is 
plainly to be seen. I have always supposed there was 
a portrait or a glass to protect a lock of hair, because 
the place was so shallow. This is the inscription 
which is on the outside of the ring, in small capitals 
— inlaid with black enamel. 

Miles— James— Ob. 7— Sept. 1 749— Aet. 54. 



The ring is divided into five scrolls of unusual length, 
each length being suited to the length of the word or 
date inscribed; it is quite heavy being solid gold." 

It was probably a mourning ring and may have 
been lost when the British came up the river in '79 or 
1812; or possibly it was washed ashore from some 
wreck. 

Year after year the same changes of weather and 
season have taken place ; and before a name was given 
to this town, here was the winter port for any craft. 

Mr. Frances Le Baron Goodwin in his diary 
says 



Along The River. 27 

1 792 — Dec. 28 Capn. Oakman arrived 
from Boston and hauld in at his Landing to 
Winter. Sunday." 

1 793 — Feb. 3, River froze over against my 
House lovv^ tides and continued until ye 6th." 

1794 — Jan. 4 — Charles Kempton hailed 
me as he went up to O. Point to winter — no let- 
ters from Plimouth." 

To-day the weather wise say that " every seven 
years it freezes below the steamboat wharf." I found 
an account of the " severe winter of 1 832—33 when 
the river and bay were frozen over so that people 
passed on the ice to the outermost islands in the bay." 
The writer adds that there has been " no winter com- 
parable with this since the year 1 772." In 1834-35 
the bay was frozen down to the outermost Islands. 
Sleighs and sleds passed back and forth from the 
Main to Long Island in March. During such hard 
" freezes " there was racing of horses and the better 
sport of ice-boating. As late as 1904 there was a 
small fleet of ice-boats on the river. 

A closed harbor does not necessarily mean inactiv- 
ity of the river folk, for now the winter fisher must 
begin his work. By law he may begin to smelt in 
October; but it is not until November that you find 
the fishers here and there on the ice, or in boats in 
open water. 



28 An Old River Town. 

In the spring the first blue streaks in the ice foretell 
a weak spot — a warning for all life to take to shore. 
There are eager watchings and predictions about 
what day the " ice will break up and go out." 
Almanacks and old memoranda are consulted to see 
" what day it was last year." A table showing the 
dates of its departure from the years 1818 to 1883 
gives Apr. 23, 1847 as its latest date. With the 
rush and whirl of the freshet comes the ice. Logs, 
cut loose from the booms up river, come tumbling 
on to the shore. Driftwood is piled on the banks. 
And with the arrival of the first boat " up river " v/e 
may say that the dreary winter is at last broken. 
Year after year the first craft is gladly welcomed by 
the villagers. 

Now the summer fisherman prepares for work. If 
a shad fisher, he must go at evening up the river, drop 
his net from the boatside, and drift down with the 
tide. According to old accounts, these fish were 
plentiful in 1 800, and in the fifties boatloads of them 
were hauled. A few of the best were sold at five 
cents apiece and the rest were taken by the farmers 
for fertilizer. To-day we pay twenty-five cents 
apiece for them. 

At this season, too, the salmon fisher must build 
his weir and begin work. In early deeds mention is 
made of " salmon fisheries " and " salmon privileges." 



< 




Along The River. 29 

Rosier says, — " Here we saw great store of fish: 
some great leaping above water, which we judged to 
be salmons " : and " fisheries " were given as an in- 
ducement for settlers to come here. That salmon 
was considered a luxury in those days is attested by 
this extract from a diary in 1 792 : 

" Captain C. came here forenoon and took a 
bile Broild-Salmon." 

The Goodwin diary tells the sad fate of an 
Indian in a salmon weir near here. 

I 792 — June 1 6 — ^Whittam found a birch 
canoe in his weir upside down." 

*' 20. John Bowlin found a Drownd Indian 
in his Salmon Net and called the Neighs to- 
gether and took him out examined and buried 
him found no marks of violence about him. It 
was the opinion of all present that he was 
Drowned, there was no Coroner in the Town. 

" July I . The Indians related to the one 
Drowned came and opened the Grave and 
found the corpse so far consumed that they 
covered him anew and placed a stone to his 
head and feet and made a Cross and painted it 
red and blacked the ends of it and placed it to 
his head. Crossed themselves and went home 
— they gave Bowlin the Cannow that Whittam 
picked up — 



30 An Old River Town. 

The dead Indian's name was Lieuene — '* 

A few years ago while looking for some graves on 
a point above the Bolan place, I came across one 
much larger than the others with rough stones at 
" head and feet." Later, on a second visit there, it 
was a strange coincidence that the ghostly stalks of 
the beautiful Indian pipes were growing on the same 
grave. 

The last picture I find of the river in old times is 
the following taken in substance from the Frankfort 
Gazette in 1855 — 

*' Frankfort is one of the most beautiful of all 
New England villages. It is at the head of 
winter navigation, on one of the noble rivers of 
the world. It stretches for a mile along its 
banks which rise with a gentle inclination. It 
is dry, airy, healthy, and surrounded by a most 
beautiful and diversified landscape of fields, 
forests, waters, and mountains." 



NATIVES OF THE SOIL. 

While we are considering the discoverers, ex- 
plorers, and the names they gave to the country, we 
should not be forgetful of the people whom they 
found here. Nearly all of eastern North America 
as far south as Cape Hatteras was known as the 
Algonquin country, and all the tribes of Indians liv- 
ing between the Penobscot River and the Piscataqua 
were known as the Abena'kis — a name changed by 
foreigners to Abnaki, Abenaqui, and Abenaques. 
The tribe occupying the Penobscot valley bore the 
name of Tarratines. In 1 754 all of the Abenakis 
except the Penobscots had withdrawn to Canada. 
Very little can be found about the Indians who oc- 
cupied this immediate vicinity. We can only judge 
of their disposition and customs by what we read 
of the Penobscots in general. In 1604, Champlain 
says, " Contrary to what might have been expected 
we found scarcely any inhabitants dwelling on the 
borders of the Penobscot. Here and there were a 
few deserted wigwams which were the only marks 
of human habitation." 

31 



32 An Old River Town. 

One of the most powerful of the eastern sagamores 
was Modockawando, chief of the Penobscots. His- 
torians say the prisoners of war held by this chief 
were remarkably well treated. He passed to the 
happy hunting grounds about 1698 and was suc- 
ceeded by Moxus. Other chiefs were Orono, 
Loren, and the halfbreed Castin the younger. 
Orono is represented as a man of exemplary charac- 
ter, and is reputed to have been the son of the 
Baron de St. Castin. The town of Orono, in 
Penobscot County, commemorates his name. 

Loren was an eloquent speaker at Falmouth when 
the Dummer treaty was signed. 

Speaking of Anselm, Williamson says he always 
stood for peace. " It was in him both policy and 
pleasure to promote peace with the English. And, 
in several instances where they had treated him with 
abuse, he gave proofs of forbearance worthy of a 
philosopher or christian's imitation." The English 
treated him as a friend and entrusted to him the mis- 
sion of conducting Major Levingston thro this wilder- 
ness from Port Royal to Quebec. He also held a 
commission from the French King as second lieu- 
tenant of the navy. 

In the 1 7th century the Indians had been visited 
by French missionaries. They had welcomed these, 
and had even employed French instructors from 



Natives of the Soil. 33 

among them; and when, in a conference at Penob- 
scot, they were asked to drive out the Catholic 
teachers, they refused to do so. 

After the destruction of the fort and dwellings at 
Oldtown, by Westbrook, the Indians had made a 
small settlement of about fifty huts at Bangor. Again 
the English came as destroyers; for in 1725, Heath 
marched from the Kennebec, set fire to the settle- 
ment, and the Indians fled to the surrounding forests. 
Many again returned to Oldtown; and in June a 
few chiefs under a flag of truce went to the trading 
house at St. Georges, Thomaston, to sue for peace. 
Even on this mission one of the number was killed by 
the English. 

In the same year, four sagamores of Eastern Maine 
met at Boston to confer with the authorities as to 
trade, the boundaries of their hunting grounds, etc. 
After a month's discussion the English gained their 
points, — first, possession of all the land they claimed; 
second, control of all trade. In December, the 
treaty known as the Dummer Treaty was signed. 
A copy of this is in the archives in the Boston State 
House. As only four sagamores were present 
another meeting was held at Falmouth, Maine; and 
in the presence of forty chiefs representing Maine, 
Nova Scotian, and Canadian Indians, it was again 



34 An Old River Town. 

signed, July 1 726, by Lieutenant Dummer and by 
twenty-seven sachems. 

When in June 1 755, war was declared against 
all the Indians in Maine, the Penobscots were ex- 
cepted, and the government offered to take into its 
army all able bodied men of the tribe. They were 
asked to join the marching army of three hundred 
men, to scout through eastern Maine and protect the 
eastern frontiers, and were to have full pay as soldiers 
and officers. The government would care for in- 
valids, women, and children. But they did not meet 
these advances and were afterwards forbidden to 
come to any of the forts or settlements in the province, 
for trading or for any other purpose. In November, 
they were declared " enemies and rebels." and " a 
Bounty and Encouragement " was to be *' given and 
paid out of the public treasury for every Penobscot 
Indian Prisoner Brought to Boston and for every 
scalp." 

The Penobscot Indians were the most peaceable 
of all the eastern tribes, and yet there is naught to 
boast of in the treatment they received at the hands 
of the English. 

Judge Goodwin of this place became Super- 
intendent of Indian affairs. He was appointed after 
the Commonwealth, in 1796, had purchased of 
the Indians nine townships on each side of the 



Natives of the Soil. 35 

Penobscot, to prevent any trespass on Indian land. 
The Bangor Commercial says " A resolve of the leg- 
islature passed June 18, 1803, made it his duty to 
assist the tribe in using and improving their lands and 
property, in making contracts, in collecting their deeds 
and in preventing depredations on their wood lands, 
and requiring him to render upon oath an annual ac- 
count of his doings. All contracts made w^ith the 
tribe vv^ere to be void, unless first approved by the 
agent, and any one vv^ho trespassed upon its lands, for- 
feited treble damages, with double costs." This be- 
came the agency of which he was made superintendent 
which in the course of twenty years became an ob- 
ject of considerable competition among rival candi- 
dates. In 1 807, he was superseded by Dr. Horatio 
G. Balch of Bangor. 

Mr. Goodwin's diary mentions some of his deal- 
ings with neighboring Indians. 

" Aug. 3, 1 796. Daniel Davis returned 
from Bagwaduce and called here in the after- 
noon Drank Tea &c left here about sundown 
and went on to Condeskeg that night and the 
next day held their treaty with the Indians. 

" Many Gents from Bagwaduce were there 
& Capt. Samson & wife from this place — my 
hay was all down & therefore could not at- 
tend said Treaty. 



36 An Old River Town. 

" Aug. 11,1 796. Reed a letter from D. 
Davis excusing his not Callg & informing me 
of his success in Treatg with ye Indians. Oct. 
7, 1 80 1 . Went to Condeskeg & Dupee & Esq. 
A. men to go down to Wheeler's Mills on 
board Capt. Kempton & get the Indian Corn 
&c bring it up to Condeskeg to deliver out to 
the Indians according to order from Q. M. 
Genl which I completed by (and) Returned 
Sat night making 4 days of myself besides all 
other Helpers." 

In dealing with the Indians here, December 1 799, 
he went out to see a settlement of Indians who were 
about to be routed and made peace between them 
and the owner of the land. 

"Jan. 3, 1800. Gave Esq. Oxhom an In- 
dian chief 2 advertizements respecting cutting 
Logs on Indian Land." 

These last two entries and the story of the dead 
Indian in the salmon weir, are the only written rec- 
ords left of the men who roamed through these forests 
thickly wooded with oak and pine, forests where the 
bear wandered at will — forests through which a 
traveler could make his way only by the Indian trail 



Natives of the Soil. 37 

or spotted trees, Mr. Mitchell says the place is not 
located where they would choose to live long; it 
would always be merely a camping ground. They 
would live either " up river," or down at " salt 
water." This would be used as a tavern or an inn, 
a mere stopping place. 

In conversing with an Oldtown squaw I learned 
that her aged grandfather, Pierre Mauly, with many 
others had lived here long ago. She is now eighty, 
and the grandfather must have been ninety at his 
death. He had told her that before any priest had 
worked among them they lived here. They came 
down in bark canoes; wintered and summered in 
bark wigwams; and lived by hunting, fishing, and 
digging clams. 

The road just below the Guide Board Hill curves 
around a flat, one side of which is bordered by three 
parallel, oblong hills. As children, we always pre- 
tended that these hills were the graves of Indian 
giants. But tradition has it that long before any 
settlement was made here and before the first ap- 
proach of any whites, this flat was the site of an In- 
dian village. As it is near Flat Rock Falls, and the 
Catamawawa stream, and not far from the river, its 
situation naturally would have made it a favorite 
resort for them. 

A few relics have been dug up here and there; a 



38 An Old River Town. 

few stories are still preserved among us: but it is 
strange that no locality in this village bears an Indian 
name. 

It is said that there was an old Indian burying 
ground on High Head. Shells have been washed 
from its clay banks, and at one time, human bones 
were found there. Under miscellaneous expenses in 
the town report for 1 868 is this item. — " Pd. P. 
McShea for burying human bones found on High 
Head— $1.00." 

The body of an Indian, with a bow and arrow, 
was dug up some years ago near the Cove. These 
v/ere buried again, this time under an apple tree, 
which, the story goes, refused thereafter to bear fruit. 

Six years ago, two men were walking on the beach 
at Oak Point when they saw something which they 
took for the end of a cannon protruding from the side 
of a bank. As it was in this vicinity the flagship 
Warren was destroyed in 1 779, they were of course 
excited, and thought a great discovery had been 
made. On examination, the cannon end proved to 
be a copper kettle which covered a human head. 
The body was in a sitting posture upright in the side 
of the bank. The hands, each grasping a toma- 
hawk, were placed on the knees. The flesh crumbled 
to dust at the touch, but the bones remained. Num- 
berless strings of beads encircled the neck. These 



Natives of the Soil. 39 

beads, strung on some twisted material, were of two 
kinds, — thin disks of shell alternating with beads of 
white pipe clay of various sizes, and cylindrical in 
shape. Lossing says, " Wampum is made of the 
clear parts of the common clam shell. This part be- 
ing split off, a hole is drilled in it, and the form which 
is that of beads known as bugles, is produced by 
friction. They are about half an inch long, gen- 
erally disposed in alternate layers of white and bluish 
black, and valued when they become a circulating 
medium, at about two cents for three of the black 
beads or six of the white." 

The bank where the Indian was found has little 
hillocks on its side, indicating that possibly more 
bodies might be found there. This method of burial 
was common among the tribes: as they thought de- 
parted spirits would " have the same wants and 
occupations in the land of souls." 

Our town is not wanting in its story of buried 
treasure. On the land now owned by Mr. Hoxie, 
and near his cottage at the shore there used to stand 
a large oak. An Indian burying-ground was form- 
erly located here. Nothing now marks the spot, 
but twenty years ago rude stones were found there. 
It is rumored that money was also hidden. The 
treasure was supposed to have been buried in a cop- 
per kettle; and believers in its reality, and seekers for 



40 An Old River Town. 

the prize were not few. A few bones have been 
the only reward for the searchers. 

About forty years ago tlie Indians made a settle- 
ment at Hardy's Point, where they lived " off and 
on " for eight or ten years. I am told that one brave 
wooed and won his bride here and that the wedding 
took place at the Point. Among those who came 
here were John Loren, Old doctor Joe Sockabasin, 
Swassin Franceway. Peter Nicola and Frank Loren. 
The last named is better known as Big Thunder 
whose death occurred in 1906 at Oldtcwn. For a 
number of years before his death he had lived there, 
where he entertained many visitors with his relics and 
his stories of Indian customs. On one occasion 
when showing a scalplock he was asked if he ap- 
proved of the custom of scalping. His answer was 
the gentle rebuke, "Madam, never take what you 
can't give." 

On a recent visit to the Island I mentioned some of 
these names to an old Squaw. She too had camped 
m old Frankfort and is one of the few left at Old- 
town who still clings to the native language. She 
shook her head, repeating each name after me in her 
soft Indian tongue. "Joe Sockabasin. no. he all 
dead — they all gone." 

Many were attracted here from Oldtown because 
of the excellent hunting and the plenteous supply of 



Natives of the Soil. 41 

ash for basket weaving. The sw^eet grass was not 
used then, as no fancy baskets were made. They 
must all be strong and useful in order to be 
salable, — " clothes baskets, market baskets, bushel 
baskets, peck baskets, egg baskets and bunnit 
baskets." This last kind, I presume, was the nearest 
approach to anything fancy in those days. 

Part of the time they lived in the open field, and 
later moved to the southern side of the Point where 
they ** limbed " the pines up for several feet and 
made a clearing for their tents. The ground was 
covered with pine spills; no sun shone through in 
summer; and the winter snow could scarcely sift 
through the thick branches. 

The sounds of the war dance and war whoop were 
not unheard, yet none of the six or seven white 
families who lived on the Point ever found the red 
man anything but a good neighbor. 

Sweet grass is now found above and below the 
steamboat wharf and by the Oaks. It was this which 
attracted the Indians, in early days, to stop at the 
oaks on the way " down river " to sell baskets. 

No doubt Low's Brook had the same attraction 
for them that it had for the small boy of the town. 
It was a good fishing place. The brook was famous 
for trout ; and in the spring, when the smelts went up 
the brooks to spawn there was joy in the heart of any 



42 An Old River Town. 

youth who could repair thither with his dip net and 
" scoop " them up, or even make a good catch 
with his hands. 

The camps were interesting places in later years to 
children on their way home from school. They liked 
to talk with the squaws, watch them weave the 
baskets, and perhaps have strips to weave of their 
own. They liked to play with the little pappooses, 
or watch for the men coming in from a day's tramp 
with bundles of ash on their backs. It was fun to 
sit by the hour watching them pound the ash from 
which they stripped material to make baskets. Any 
boy was glad to gather driftwood and do an errand 
which might bring in return a fine bow and arrow. 

About fifty years ago the families at Whig street 
came and stayed all winter. The old grandmother 
who used to beg for cold victuals is not forgotten. 
Her gratitude was always shown by, '* Thank you, 
sister, much obleeged." There were old Mollie 
Mollasses — Mollie Balarsic in Indian language — 
the Tippetoes, Joe Neptune, and Mary Francis. 
At that time they came in large numbers — canoe 
after canoe coming down the river, fifty or sixty at a 
time. 

These camps were busy places, too, and often 
were crowded with visitors who bought baskets, or 
perhaps carried cold food to the Indians. It was not 



Natives of the Soil. 43 

strange to see them on our streets in native costume. 
A man generally wore a feathered head dress and 
brilliantly colored blankets fastened about the neck. 
The squawk's costume consisted of a loose cloth dress 
and a tall felt hat adorned w^ith feathers. Often 
they knocked at some door to trade, — possibly to 
buy peas or pork. Sometimes they w^ere given shelter 
for the night. Wrapped in blankets, they w^ere per- 
fectly satisfied vv^ith a resting place on the kitchen 
floor. " Many an old squaw^ has stayed in this house 
all night; *' reflected the ovv^ner of one of our home- 
steads. 

Some may remember hovs^ young people used to 
gather around an old squaw^, w^ho, looking over her 
greasy pack of cards till she came to the right one, 
vv^ould say, " Light 'plected felly haas good heart 
fV yeou, mees! " 

Joe Mitchell w^as the last one to camp here with 
his family. His father, old Dr. Joe Mitchell, had 
been at Hardy's Point years before, and it seemed 
quite fitting that his son, a basket maker, should 
choose this town for a home. His family consisted 
of Mary, his wife, and Tommy, son of a previous 
marriage. They took a house here, and he was a 
citizen of the town for thirteen years. Eight chil- 
dren were born, several of whom attended the pub- 



44 An Old River Town. 

lie school until 1905, when Mr. Mitchell returned 
to Oldtown with his family. 

The children are named Stella D, Joseph D, 
Wanita D, Lodgie D, Phynne, Francis Rayne, 
Louis, and Zine. Joseph was known as little Joe 
to distinguish him from his father. Lodgie was 
named for the Howard Lodge of Masons, the 
Winterport lodge of which his father had become 
a member. The name " Phynne " is written 
" Fine " in the town record. Her advent into the 
world was with such comfort to the mother that when 
the doctor asked what the baby's name should be, 
Mrs. Mitchell said " O fine, I had such easy time." 
So Fine the name stands, altho the family spell 
it Phynne. Later she was baptized with the Chris- 
tian name, Eliza. There is a new baby, born at 
Oldtown, named Flora. The middle initial of every 
name is D, which stands for Daylight, a family nick- 
name. Mr. Mitchell's father was an early riser — 
up before the day — so he was given the name Day- 
light. His children and grandchildren take this name 
for life unless some one distinguishes himself. Then 
some friend or playmate may choose to call him by 
some descriptive term and his children will bear the 
new name. 

Members of the tribe still go down to salt water 
and return again to their island home. To-day there 



Natives of the Soil. 45 

are no braves, but in 1 760 the river valley was 
ruled by sixty warriors. In 1 780 there were four 
hundred and fifty-nine Indians at Oldtown. The 
number has now decreased to less than four hundred, 
of whom, only perhaps less than fifteen are full 
blooded. It seems a pity that their customs should 
be forgotten, that no traces of native costume should 
remain, and that in a few years not one will be left 
here who can speak the Algonquin language. 



AT THE WATER'S EDGE IN OLD DAYS. 

The town of Winterporl is thirteen miles from 
Bangor, the head of navigation, and forty-seven miles 
from the ocean. The river is a little over a fourth of 
a mile wide here ; from the wharf at the foot of Ferry 
Street to the one on the other side, it is 1251 feet 
6 inches and at high water it is 1684 feet. These 
measurements were taken on the ice in 1904, by 
Roger Sherman Rundlett and Seth H. Morgan. 

In depth it varies from three and three-fourths to 
five and a half fathoms. These soundings were taken 
at mean low water. The river here is a little salt, at 
high water it is quite brackish, and in winter the shell 
ice on the shore has a slightly saline taste. 

Just north of Bald Hill Cove and running a little 
southwest is the line which separates the towns of 
Winterport and Hampden; it also separates the 
counties of Waldo and Penobscot. This line follows 
the middle of the river running south; so that the 
ferry takes us from Waldo into Penobscot County. 
This river came very near being the western boundary 

46 



At The Water's Edge. 47 

of a county by the name of New Ireland which was 
to have had Castine as a capital. This was an at- 
tempt made by the British government to colonize 
the country between the Penobscot and St. Croix 
rivers under the name of New Ireland. The plan 
was abandoned on account of some doubt as to the 
right to the soil. 

A survey of the river at this point was made in 
1873 and 1874, Alexander Longfellow, brother of 
the poet, was then in the service. His name appears 
on the old Commercial House registers and he often 
was a guest at the house of the Honorable T. Cushing 
and of Albert Kelly, Esquire. 

From Bucksport, the river pursues a northwesterly 
course till it broadens into Marsh Bay, which is about 
a mile and a quarter wide from Treat's Point to 
Drachm Point. The reach runs about northeast and 
southwest up past the village. The channel is an 
easy one for sailors as there are no rocks or falls and 
the current is swift here only at the spring tides. TTie 
rise and fall of the tide is about twelve feet; but it 
has been known to rise twenty-six feet, which is four 
or five feet above the wharf. 

The shore line has changed greatly in twenty 
years. The water front from Eveleth's to McKen- 
ney's wharf is made land. The foundation was of 
logs covered with dirt. There used to be sandy 



48 An Old River Town. 

beaches, but sawdust from the up-river mills has been 
deposited all along the shore and has covered these 
except in one or two places. Thirty or thirty-five 
years ago no grass grew on the shore at the foot of 
Ferry street or between the wharves, and at low 
water ships could be hauled far up into the dock. 
The line at the steamboat wharf must have changed 
considerably; for the last vessel built here, the 
Samuel Larrabee, was sent off the stocks at the west 
end of the group of buildings now standing on that 
wharf. 

There were some large areas of marsh grass, and 
at present a few field marshes are left below Hardy*s 
Point. This grass is still cut in the Kelly field and 
on the Hacket shore. The sale of it must have been 
an important item in early days; salt marshes and 
thatch beds are named in old deeds, and the harvest- 
ing of it was an event worthy of note in old diaries: 
for salt hay was excellent fodder. 

Nearly every small cape or inlet is favored with a 
name — either that of some old settler or one chosen 
from its natural features. 

Drachm Point is across from Marsh Bay on the 
Buckport side. It is a long point extending far out 
into the bay : and the Geodetic Survey chart of 1 899 
shows a series of banks under the water south from 
the Point, which bears the name Frankfort Flats. 




A/ the Shore 



At The Water's Edge. 49 

In the spring and fall many old scows may be seen 
here, whose owners are getting sawdust to be used as 
a fertilizer. All crafts of any size coming up river 
must make a big circle and keep well to the left of 
the two red buoys marking the channel, which is very 
narrow at this point. 

Returning to the Frankfort shore south of the town 
we find Treat's Point and Hardy's Point. As we go 
up river we see Kenney's or Atwood's Cove, Kemp- 
ton's Cove, Oak Point, Stubb's Point, Bald Hill 
Reach, and Bald Hill Cove. When we speak of 
Oak Point to-day we mean any part of the point 
lying across from Buck's Ledge. 

WTien the first settlers came, of course the earliest 
mode of travel was by water, and some means of 
access to the shore was necessary. For this purpose 
rude structures called " landings " were built by 
many of the landowners, either for mere convenience 
in getting ashore or for commercial purposes. 

I found one mentioned as early as 1 792. " Dec. 
28 Cap'n Oakman arrived from Boston and hauld in 
at his landing to winter Sunday." This one was 
probably somewhere on the shore just above Wash- 
ington street, for Captain Oakman had taken up land 
in 1 787 in this locality. He had come to the wilder- 
ness to buy wood lots, and to cut and sell wood. The 
same little sloop which brought him here made fre- 



50 An Old River Town. 

quent voyages to Boston with wood for the cargo, 
and now and then carried passengers or his family. 
Miller Johnston had a landing, replaced later by a 
small wharf or abutment which was washed away in 
the seventies. 

In 1 793 there was a landing at Eben Colson's by 
Oak Point and a Miss Gibbs had a small wharf near 
there. 

About 1800 Oak Point seems to have been the 
business portion of the town. John Kempton had 
purchased three hundred acres of land in the spring of 
1 793. He chose a good cove and later built his 
wharf at its head. His two-story house, built on posts 
driven into the ground, was near the wharf. The 
upper story was his home, and the basement con- 
tained a store from which he paid the men in his 
employ. The first shipbuilding in the vicinity was 
done at this wharf. Two vessels were built here. The 
first was the Cynthia, one hundred and fifteen tons. 
The second one was on the stocks and partly built in 
1812. When Mr. Kempton knew that the British 
were coming up the river, he burned her on the ways 
to prevent her from falling into their hands. Probably 
Mr. Kempton shipped lumber from here too; for 
Sept. 1 I, 1796 " Capt. Richard Galley of the Brig 
Fair America loaded in Oak Point Gove with spruce 
spars." She " left this place 1 2 o'clock for Phila- 



At The Water's Edge. 51 

delphia, a fair wind and tide. — Capt'n Stubbs of 
Buckstown went with him." 

Near the Kempton wharf was a brickyard which, 
it is said, employed twenty men. This was owned 
by a Miss Gibbs about whom little is known except 
that she was well-to-do and the people of the neigh- 
borhood called her the witch. In July, 1 790, she 
" raized a two-story Gamble Roofed House." It 
must have been a big venture in those days for a 
woman to take up a habitation in the wilderness, in 
view of the helpless beings women were held to be; 
and it is not strange that she was looked upon as a 
witch. She stands alone as the first woman land- 
owner in these parts, and we still hear of " Sal Gibb's 
pmt. 

There were Thompsons who had a wharf at Oak 
Point, and in 1812 they too had a ship partly built 
which was never launched. 

An appraiser's description of land reserves to 
David Stubbs the free use of the wharf, landing place 
and road to and from it as used in 1 840. 

By 1 802 a wharf had been built by a Mr. Hall 
at the entrance to Low's Brook. Mr Hall was a 
dealer in West India Goods — Wild Irish Goods, as 
they were sometimes called — and remains of his store 
and wharf were to be seen as late as '44. 

Enoch Sampson crossed over from Buckstown in 



52 An Old River Town. 

1 793, settled on land which is now the center of the 
village, built a store and later a wharf. It was in 
1 779 after a naval encounter at Castine, that one of 
the British ships in her retreat up river, was sunk off 
Sampson's ledge. Afterward she was visited by a 
diving bell and some iron articles were recovered. 

Perhaps one of the most interesting landings is the 
old McGlathry wharf. William McGlathry came 
up from Camden in 1 798 or 1 799, bought land in 
Frankfort, and settled at the southern part of the 
town. He was interested in trading and built a wharf 
with the usual storehouse. It was located at the head 
of the dock south of the present Eastern Steamship 
wharf. 

At the present time, from this dock is the ruin of 
a long extension built parallel with the steamboat 
dock. Whether this, too, was built by Mr. Mc- 
Glathry is a question. Some say that it was, and 
others that the first storehouse at its head was burned. 
The building, which had been stored with lime, was 
flooded at high tide and subsequently burned. 
Others say that Mr. Little built it, which seems quite 
possible as the two families were related, and a com- 
pany wharf might have been a convenience. 

The wharf was once in the hands of the Union 
Company, and later was hired by Treat and Com- 
pany who did a big coopering business. In those 



At The Water's Edge. 53 

days the place was lined with cooper shops and 
store houses. There were four cooper shops, two of 
which were known as the " red one," the " white 
one." Probably thirty-five men worked here. 
After Treat and Company, the firm of Joshua and 
Charles Treat continued the same business. The 
latter member of this firm has for many years been 
Treasurer at Washington, and people fortunate 
enough to possess United States bills or bank notes 
will find his autograph on each one. 

A man named William Dewey had a shop at the 
head of this small wharf. This " Uncle Dewey," as 
the boys called him, was an interesting character. He 
came here from Springfield, Massachusetts; and it is 
said that when he was a little the worse for rum, he 
always swore by S-f-d. In his day we boasted of an 
artillery company; and one day his tall lank figure 
was seen coming up the street, clad in military cos- 
tume, and bearing a loaf of bread aloft on the point 
of a sword. When questioned as to its significance 
his reply was, " Oh, that's life on the point of death." 

The McGlathry wharf was again visited by fire, 
and one winter night the storehouse and all the shops 
were razed to the ground. 

The little old wharf has been owned for the last 
forty years by Mr. Joseph Moody, who for most of 



54 An Old River Town. 

the time has done coopering, so that it retains its 
name " cooper shop wharf. 

This locality also has its story incident to the war 
of 1812. The British vessel, Kertusof, with Captain 
Alexander Millikin of this town as prize master, was 
brought here. She was loaded with cocoa which 
had been sold at auction in Boston. Mr. Thorndike, 
one of the Ten Proprietors had bought it. He hap- 
pened to be here at the time of her arrival, so the 
cargo was discharged into the McGlathry store 
house — where F. W. Haley's store is now — to be 
disposed of later. However, rumor of the approach 
of the British caused it to be hastily removed. From 
this point stories of the cocoa are many and varied, 
some of them perhaps more interesting than truthful. 
It was concealed in many places all through this sec- 
tion, and even to-day we may expect to find a hand- 
ful of it hidden in any unheard of place. Perhaps the 
whole incident might be fittingly called the " Frank- 
fort Cocoa Party." 

This occurred just before the British had ascended 
the river to capture the Adams at Hampden. A let- 
ter dated August 1814 mentions the arrival of the 
Adams. " The 22nd U. S. States Frigate Adams 
arrived at Frankfort from a 9 months crus which was 
quite a site in the Place. She got on shore, met with 
Damage, came into Repair." 



At The Water's Edge. 55 

What is now known as Eveleth's wharf is built 
out over the end of the old Dean Wharf, the former 
being at about the center of the present one. At that 
time the water must have flowed high over the newer 
dock, for all this land along the river road is made 
land. 

Tisdale Dean, its owner, a trader from Taunton, 
Massachusetts, was an early settler. In 1 802 he had 
a store just at the head of the ferry way on the north 
side. The ferry way, or street, was then " under- 
stood to be 3 rods measured from the stairs of Charles 
Stern's Store." 

In 1806 Mr. Dean moved his business across the 
way into a building on the Stokell site, and became 
the junior member of the firm, Andrews, Ware, and 
Dean. They carried on an extensive trade, barter in 
those times, exchanging our wood products of oak 
barrel and hogshead staves, rift clapboards and shin- 
gles, spruce knees, bark, etc., for provisions. West 
India and domestic goods. Rift clapboards were 
split by hand and shaved with a draw shave or frow. 
All large knees come from the roots of large spruces, 
but in small boats oak limbs can be used. Knees are 
now replaced by metal braces or trusses but a few 
may be found to-day on comers of our wharves. 

The firm built the Orion, a vessel of a hundred and 
fifteen tons, just a hundred years ago. Mr. Andrews 



56 An Old River Town. 

afterward built a vessel, the William, for his son of 
that name, and probably she sailed from this wharf 
on her voyages to Cuba. Here, too. Captain An- 
drews returned from his own foreign voyages. 

Mr. Dean married Mary, the daughter of Mr. 
Andrews, and they went to housekeeping with 
" Square " Shaw on the hill. Mr. Andrews and his 
son-in-law transacted much business together, pur- 
chasing a home for the young couple. The lot ex- 
tended from the river to the county road and a part 
of it was a pennyroyal field when purchased. The 
street now bearing his name was near its northern 
boundary, and a line at the present Willow street 
was the southern. At the time of its purchase in 
1825, a house and barn stood on the lot. The for- 
mer has since been known as the old Dean house and 
remained standing until within a few years. It was 
altered after its purchase, from a flat roof to the sharp 
roof of its later days. 

Neighbors were not near, and from the upper 
windows an unobstructed view far up and down the 
river was to be had. 

This must have been a spacious dwelling for those 
days; and that its interior was comfortably and even 
handsomely furnished is recalled by a few. and shown 
by some substantial pieces of furniture still preserved. 
The visitor who lifted the brass knocker was always 




The Old Dean House 



At The Water's Edge. 57 

welcome by this family. According to custom he 
was received in the kitchen, where he perhaps found 
the family — three boys and three girls — gathered 
around the big, open, driftwood fire. The fireplace 
was most attractive, but comfort was brought by the 
big box stove at the other end of the room. 

A granddaughter recalls an occasional glimpse of 
the best room : wall paper with large figures of people 
riding horseback, carrying drawn bows, ready to 
shoot; a large old-fashioned sofa with turned ends; 
the best parlor mirror, large and oblong, with heavy 
gilt frame, its only ornament being a raised gilt flower 
at the top. Probably here also was the library : such 
books as History of Charles Mandeville, a Sequel to 
Lady Julia by Mrs. Brook ; Ambrose and Eleanor or 
the Disinherited Pair; Tale of the Revolution by an 
Officer; Children of the Abbey; Don Quixote; and 
Pilgrim's Progress. 

It was a great treat to each grandchild to spend a 
night at the old house and sleep in the high, four 
posted bed with its curtains and valence. It was fun 
to sleep in a bed that had felt the warming pan. The 
attic was a fine place to play. On the way thither 
there was one door that must alwa5'^s be opened and 
peered through long and wistfully — the room where 
grandmother kept her jelly. 

In the attic were treasures untold: a cloth loom 



58 An Old River Town. 

where the linsey-woolsey was woven, a spinning 
wheel, flax wheel, swifts and reel, bespeaking busy 
fingers. 

Those who have access to the public library to- 
day may now and then look into the kindly face of 
Tisdale Dean; for his photograph is on the book 
plates of books presented by his daughter, Elizabeth 
Dean Johnston. 

A man influential in town affairs; a Whig, yet for 
thirty years serving a Democratic town as its trea- 
surer; interested in church; a friend of children: he 
was, in the words of a neighbor, " one of the best 
men that ever lived." 



RIVER CRAFTS. 

This settlement was destined from its beginning 
for a shipping community; its situation half way to 
the sea, a shore line supplied with coves and streams, 
and sites favorable for landing places, all explain the 
growth of a " river town " like old Frankfort. The 
men who chose an abiding place here were seafarers ; 
deeds describe them as seamen, trader, mariner or 
captain. Their former homes, old Plymoulh, Well- 
fleet, Bristol and Provincetown proclaim their natural 
inclination. 

One chose his lot because it was good woodland ; 
he could sell lumber; another could see in the oak 
groves future ships which would carry his lumber 
abroad and return from far countries bearing foreign 
products. 

The prospect of a fortune on these hillsides, heavily 
crowned ridges and oak groves of the old forest 
attracted young men. They began life anew in an 
untried country as men went West to live in '49. 
Their homes were log huts, each in its little clearing, 

59 



60 An Old River Town. 

their livelihood depending on the work of their hands. 
In some cases, money was saved and invested in a 
craft to carry their forest products to the world's 
market. He who possessed a sloop was accounted 
well-to-do. Nearly every settler bore the name of 
captain and either owned his own sloop or was master 
of one owned by his neighbor. 

The river and its burden was their life. The com- 
ing and the going of ships was carefully noted. 

" Sept. 11,1 792 a large Sloop went up the 
River the first vessel except Treat's Brigg for 
eight Days." 

Now and then a vessel returned from the Indies 
or set out from here on a longer trip. Two arrivals in 
the same day must have been an event. The many 
purposes which early crafts served is shown by this 
entry in Judge Goodwin's diary, — 

** Went on board Captain Carres Schooner 
and got a pair of shoes for my wife," " went 
on board Capt. Lewes Brig to carry a letter for 
Mr. Samuel Prince in Brinston Gt. Britain. 
My wife, child and myself went in afternoon 
over to Lewes House and spent the afternoon 
with him and his wife Captain Delano there." 

Thus we know that while in port, early captains 



River Crafts. 61 

were postmasters and shopkeepers. We can well 
imagine the subjects of conversation during the call 
at Lewes' house; news of the world across the seas 
was exchanged for stories of local happenings; of 
plantings, road-making, ploughing of new land, 
building new homes and of visits to the sick, (for the 
writer was doctor as well as judge) while their wives 
sat near with knitting and spinning. 

These vessels carried passengers, too. It is re- 
corded that '* Capt. Cunningham sailed for Boston 
with Col. Moore and Capt. Crosby passengers," and 
'* Capt. O. sailed from here with his family on 
board." 

That each passenger supplied his own luxuries is 
told in the following: 

1 796 went down with my bed and chest in 
company with Abner Bicknal on board the fore 
top sail Schooner Two Sisters, John Dutch 
Master, Laden with wood and other lumber and 
bound for Boston." On the return trip " left 
Boston about 3 o'clock in the morning on board 
Cap'n James Treat with 1 9 Passengers on board 
bound for Penobscot." 

An early trip from Plymouth to Frankfort is thus 
described. 

" May I 796 Nath Kempton arrived at Plym. 



62 An Old River Town. 

from Eastward Penobscot begun to unload Fri- 
day and sailed again for Penobscot with Chan- 
dler and myself on board. Left plim. at sun- 
down Saturday and Sunday night at sundown 
we anchored at Portland — Hog Island Road 
— we had head winds all the time until the 1 9th 
we made to lay under the fore-sail two nights 
round Menhegin. After that made about a 
Dozen harbors and at Length arrived at Oak 
point ye 19th May." 

One of our early traders who went to Boston twice 
a year for his stock " staged it " if he were in a hurry, 
but if not he went in a *' coaster." 

Among the small crafts commonly used on the 
river were the canoe, dugout, gondola, dory, and 
scow. Of course for age the bark canoe holds prece- 
dence. A dugout or log canoe was also used. 
This was simply a log hollowed out. It was pro- 
pelled by a paddle. Our first ferry boat was such a 
one. This conveyance was used elsewhere in New 
England for in Holland's Bay Path — says, " You'd 
better scull your dugout over the drink again and go 
to Splittin' wood." 

The gondola was not a Venetian craft but a flat 
bottomed boat used for carrying produce. Various 
corruptions of this word are gundalo, gundaloe, gun- 



River Crafts. 63 

delow and gundalow; an old bill has for one item 
'* Day's work on a Gundlo," 

The same kind of boat that figures in Captains 
Courageous is used on the ferry to-day — " swaying 
with the sway of the flat-bottomed dory." The 
ungainly scow is still seen taking a " team across." 

The primitive method of transportation for an 
animal was to tow the creature behind the dugout, — 
" Dec. 1 , 1 797 Got a sheep and a Lamb of 

Eldridge Towed Old Bonney." 

Settlers were not long in availing themselves of the 
advantages of their surroundings and were soon at 
work contributing their small part to the building up 
of the merchant marine which the first Congress had 
so strongly advocated to the colonies. 

An equipped yard was not a necessity then to 
carry on shipbuilding; but a man set up his own 
stocks, built his ship, and often took her to sea him- 
self — master builder and master of the craft. 

Oak Point has the honor of having the first vessel 
built in town, when Captain John Kempton built the 
Cynthia. Then in 1 807 the Orion was built by An- 
drews, Ware and Dean. 

In 1810 the Franklin was built at Frankfort. She 
was a schooner of 92 tons carrying 6 men. It is not 
known by whom she was built but Nehemiah Rich 
sold her to Samuel Kempton and Captain Kempton's 



64 An Old River Town. 

letters give us a little idea of the Franklin's trials in 
the War of 1812. She managed to steer clear of the 
non-importation act and in February of that year was 
bound for Barbadoes. On her return she became a 
prisoner in Penobscot waters. But at the first oppor- 
tunity the captain sailed out of the river with " 2000 
rails or more and an additional cargo of lumber. 

During the following six weeks he was not heard 
from and a letter from a relative solicitous for his 
welfare closes with the hope that the " rest of the 
Penobscoters are getting their fill of Madisonian 
P^epublicanism." It is evident that the efforts of the 
" Champion of American shipping " were not appre- 
ciated in this quarter. 

Again in January, 1814, Captain Kempton was 
embargoed in Penobscot river but by June he had 
reached Portland from which town he writes, " The 
enemy are destroying all the vessels in the coastway 
trade and I expect to be obliged to hall my Schooner 
up leave and Strip her and go home without her." 
On the day before Christmas of this same year the 
Treaty of Ghent was signed and in February of the 
following year the Franklin was detained for five days 
in the ice in Boston Roads. Captain Kempton 
writes, 

" The first news I had from Bof was the joy- 



River Crafts. 65 

ful surlute of cannon from the forts in all Direc- 
tions then followed by a lumination in the eve- 
ning until ten at night, there w^as nothing but joy 
to be once more freed from the toils of war." 

The Franklin was in existence in 1816 and made 
nine trips to Boston and the cape. 

At least two vessels were built in Frankfort near 
the year 1825. The William was built and named 
for her captain, young William Andrews, who went 
some voyages to the West Indies. His death oc- 
curred in 1829. Then at the foot of Holmes street 
a full-rigged brig was built for Captain Arthur Childs. 
She was named the Nancy and Hannah. WTiile on 
her first voyage, on her way to Cuba, lumber laden, 
she was overtaken by a squall in the Gulf stream and 
capsized. All hands were lost except two of the 
crew who were picked up and taken to London. 

In his book on American Navigation, Mr. Bates 
says that from '46 to '60 were the most important 
years in the history of the United States merchant 
service; that these years saw the " deep sea tonnage 
mount to its highest figure " and saw the " beginning 
of its melancholy decline." Boston surrounded by 
the busy yards of Salem, Newburyport, etc., was a 
center of the shipbuilding industry. 

Throughout New England this prosperity was 



66 An Old River Town. 

felt and here and there along the Penobscot shipyards 
appeared. In the '40s Frankfort village, too, felt this 
prosperity. Among the vessels of this period vv^ere 
the T. O. Thompson, Ruth Thomas and the Cap- 
tain John. The Balloon was re-built here. In youth 
this craft had been painted bright blue so she was 
nicknamed the Blue Loon. The date of her con- 
struction is unknown but one of her masters, Cap'n 
Jack, said " she was old enough to vote in the fifties." 
She made many voyages to the West Indies and 
Canary Islands and spent her declining years in the 
ship hospital at Bucksport, her hull hauled up on the 
shore, one old mast still standing. 

In '48 Treat and Company built two vessels at the 
Marsh, — the Nancy Treat, a bark, and the Ellen 
Maria, a brig. 

This industry was prolonged by the discovery of 
gold in California and also by the Crimean War. 
During the latter, France and England both needing 
their ships for supplies, withdrew them from the ocean 
highway and left ocean commerce to be carried on 
in American bottoms; they also bought American 
vessels for transports. *' As a result " Mr. Bates 
says American shipyards produced more tonnage 
than they had before or since." 

So the palmy days of shipbuilding for us began 
in the 50s'. At the Marsh various members of the 



River Crafts. 67 

Treat family were in the business; and in the village 
there vv^ere five yards ; the largest ones were Treat and 
Company's, Dunham's, and Williams's. 

On their stocks Treat and Co., built the James 
Churchill in '55 and the Harriet Churchill in '56; 
the Robin in '57, the M. A. Herrara in '58; the 
Alice and the Czarina in '59; the Alpine and the 
John Dwyer in '64 ; the George Treat and the Sam- 
uel Larrabee later. 

The bark James Churchill was named for a Port- 
land man, a shipbroker who did business in Cardenas. 
She was built for the South American trade. In 
'8 1 her name had been changed to Harlingen for she 
then belonged to a Holland firm, and hailed from 
the port of Harlingen. 

The Harriet E. Churchill was wrecked in the 
outer harbor at Cardenas on her maiden voyage. 
At the same time the Ellen Maria chanced to be in 
that port. So it was decided to put all spars and top 
hamper of the Churchill on board her to be shipped 
to Winterport. The home bound vessel was to bring 
the crew of the disabled one while the captain and 
mate returned by steamer. That spring on the 
fourth of March, there occurred one of the worst 
storms on our coast, so severe that no town meeting 
was held in the state of Maine on that day. The 
Ellen Maria sighted Cape Cod in a blinding snow 



68 An Old River Town. 

storm and was driven ashore. The captain died on 
the gallant fo'castle and of the two crews only one 
man was left to tell the story. That was the mate of 
the Ellen Maria who came ashore on a mast, leaving 
the vessel and her wreckage pounding to pieces on 
the cape. 

When the Robin is mentioned, the inevitable re- 
mark is, " Of course you know why that vessel was 
named! " This is the story which I have from the 
man who did the planking on the brig Robin. While 
she was being built a bird began a nest right between 
the Knight heads and raised four young ones. The 
men worked around her nest, planks passed over her 
but she didn't mind. One day I called Colonel 
Treat, the owner, to the scene and there lay the robin 
with four young ones. WTiile takin' our noonin' 
one day the mother and four little ones flew away. 
Then the father built another nest on the starboard 
side and with his new mate reared four young ones 
more. Mr. Treat was so interested that he hung up 
the planking till the last one was hatched out. When 
the last wee bird came, we finished the vessel and she 
was named the " Robin." 

She was a line vessel, finished handsomely and 
was painted by John Pope, some of whose work still 
adorns a Winterport home. She was four months in 
construction, was built for Captain Frank Killman 



River Crafts. 69 

and carried six or seven men before the mast. She 
w^ent on Cuban voyages and was one of the most 
successful vessels Treat & Co., ever owned. Like 
many owners in war time their vessels were put under 
English colors and by '70 the Robin had left the 
United States for good. She sailed to the Baltic sea, 
her captain had to forfeit her for a bottomry bond in 
a second Baltic port. She was alive in '81. 

** And what did the Robin do then, poor thing? " 
The M. A. Herrara was named for a Spaniard 
in Cuba. She was sold in Boston for South Ameri- 
can and West India trade. She was finally lost on 
Cape May — ran ashore and never came off. 

Treat & Co., generally had one ship on the stocks 
at a time but in '59, the Czarina and the Alice were 
both in construction. The former, designed for Rus- 
sian trade, was named for the Emperor's wife. Her 
first voyage was an unhappy one. She went to 
Charleston, South Carolina, loaded with hay, at 
which port her future captain was to take her. Cap- 
tain Dwyer sailed the Czarina to St. Petersburg. 
On the return voyage he put in to Shields, England, 
shipped a new mate and started for home. Some 
trouble arose among the officers and one morning the 
captain, second mate and steward were found dead, 
and the mate's body locked in his room. The cook 
was somewhat of a navigator and ran the vessel for 



70 An Old River Town. 

the broadside of America. She was picked up and 
reported one hundred miles off Sandy Hook ; an offi- 
cer was put on board and brought her into New 
York. All of the crew told the same story, that the 
mate had killed captain and officers, then taken his 
own life. After that the Czarina was put in the 
Argentine trade, finally was sold to a Buenos Ayres 
firm and in later years was known as the Anna. 

The second vessel built in '59, designed as a 
fruiter, was launched the Fischer. This was the 
name of a member of the West India firm for which 
she was built. The Civil War broke out, the firm re- 
fused to take her and she was left on Treat's hands. 
They put her under English colors, named her the 
Alice and sent her to the St. Lawrence, to the Bay of 
Chaleur, as a mackerel fisher. 

It seems as if Alpine must have been a favorite 
name with Mr. James Treat for he was interested 
in three crafts by that name. The first was the brig, 
built by the Bone and Muscle Society, which the 
firm bought and launched After her first voyage 
out of the river she never again came to a United 
States port. She went to Rio Janeiro and thereafter 
engaged in dry trade, taking coffee to Marseilles and 
returning loaded with wine. She was finally sold in 
Hamburg. 

At the time of her launching a second vessel was 



River Crafts. 71 

on the stocks which was also named the Alpine. 
She made many successful voyages and was finally 
lost in a gale off Cape Hatteras. 

The John Dwyer was built during the war. The 
first master was Robert Killman. On one voyage 
he left her in Jacksonville and sent for his brother 
Frank, late of the Alpine to take her. Captain Frank 
Killman and his wife came — and for some reason 
did not sail immediately. While waiting in the outer 
harbor Mrs. Killman contracted the yellow fever — a 
little way out at sea her death occurred. Her body 
was placed on Orange Key on the Bahama Banks, 
to be taken away at some future time. The vessel 
proceeded to Buenos Ayres, found no business there, 
so consigned to go to Valparaiso, proceeded to 
Chincha Islands and loaded with guano for London. 
They took on the cargo at Chincha, and when six 
days out at sea the captain died. His body was 
buried in the hold and the mate was to take the ves- 
sel to London. As they ran up the English Channel 
a government steamer ran into the Dwyer splitting 
and sinking her. When a brother went later in the 
J. Churchill to get the body of Mrs. Killman, a storm 
had washed it from the reef, so that the captain, his 
wife and the ship all found the same grave. 

The George Treat went to the West Indies and 
back to New York and Philadelphia on her first trip. 



11 An Old River Town. 

Then she followed the same route of the John Dwyer 
and finally was sold to New York parties. 

The last vessel built by the Treats was the Samuel 
Larabee. Captain William Thompson, accom- 
panied by his wife took her to Savannah. There 
taking on a cargo of cotton she put out to sea sailing 
for Bremen and was never again heard from. It is 
supposed that she burned at sea. 

" And men go down in their ships to the seas. 
And a hundred ships are the same as one." 

The brothers Isaac and George Dunham were 
shipowners as well as shipbuilders. Besides the Rich 
fleet they have turned off their stocks the Addison 
Gillbert, Daniel Sharp, Mary E. Long, Arabella, 
France, Lucy M. Collins, Eastern State, Speedwell, 
Reynard and Nonpareil. 

The Addison Gillbert was a ship of 861 tons. 
In '81 she was reported as the schooner Uno and 
hailed from the Norwegian port of Stavenger. 

The naming of some of these vessels is interesting. 
The Daniel Sharp was named for a New York 
gentleman who presented her with a set of hand- 
some silk flags. The Arabella was named for Mr. 
Dunham's daughter, and the Mary E. Long for the 
daughter of a Boston gentleman. 

In '56 the France was built and it is said that she 



River Crafts. 73 

was given that name because it was hoped the French 
government would buy her for a transport during the 
Crimean War. Mr. Dunham's daughter saw her 
in Havre in after years. Later she had been re- 
named the Goethe. 

One writer says that " the swiftest of our ocean 
greyhounds of to-day awakens no such enthusiasm as 
did those of the Black Ball Line by their passages of 
eighteen to twenty days from the Hudson to the 
Mersey. Most of the high class packets were built 
at East River and only a few came from New Eng- 
land." The Nonpareil, built at the Dunham yards 
was for this line and became a sister ship to the 
Dreadnought. This latter was the champion of the 
Atlantic packet service and ran from New York 
to Liverpool. She was nicknamed the Wild Boat 
of the Atlantic, or the Flying Dutchman. 

The construction of steam vessels, also the dis- 
covery of gold in California, brought about the build- 
ing of the " celebrated Yankee clippers " as they 
were called. The largest vessel built in Wintcrport, 
the Spitfire, was intended for a San Francisco packet 
to run from New York around the Horn; but she 
went into trade and was wrecked on the English 
coast. Mr. Lindsey describes these clippers as 
" wonderfully beautiful " and " splendid racers " 



74 An Old River Town. 

and adds that " not one is now afloat in ocean 
service." 

The half completed Alpine was the last vessel 
built by Williams and Arey. Previously they had 
launched the Ben Willis, Barbadoes, Daniel Wil- 
liams, Gibraltar, Lucinda Maria, T. O. Thompson 
and the T. A. Cunningham. 

The Caroline E. Kelley, the John Henry and the 
Wild Pigeon were launched at the foot of Marine 
street. 

We are told that the *' decline of shipbuilding 
had set in several years before the first shot at 
Sumter " and that the final blow to merchant service 
was the coming of the Cunard steamers, altho a little 
building was done in the '70s. 

In the Longfellow house in Portland hangs a paint- 
ing by J. R. Tilton, " The Shipyard.*' This rep- 
resents a half finished vessel on the stocks, but dimly 
seen thro haze and mist. Thus we see our flourish- 
ing industry thro changing years. If standing on the 
Post Office steps some summer afternoon, when a 
brisk southerly breeze blows up the river, we can im- 
agine seventy vessels in full sail — old and new, 
patched and worn, — making their way, we have a 
sight not uncommon half a century ago. Now it is a 
treat to see one in full sail — for in the busy rush of the 




s 



1^ 



^ 



River Crafts. 75 

age they are towed up — they cannot wait for the 
wind and tide. 

Not the least interesting of the river crafts was the 
Good Ship Rover, a vessel which grew in the 
imagination of one of our old stevedores. Over and 
over again she was built and manned for the small 
boys of his neighborhood who gladly sawed and 
split his wood day after day for a yarn about this 
remarkable ship. Even they did not fully appreci- 
ate her wonders till they had attained to manhood 
and retold of her marvels and exploits, in turn adding 
a little with each recital. 

A definite idea of her size may be gained from 
this incident; one day just after she had rounded the 
Horn it became evident that something was wrong 
" up forrard." A young sailor was sent to investi- 
gate ; on his return he was a gray-headed old man, so 
long had he been absent, for her bowsprit was way 
up in Aroostook County, Maine. 

She went to New York to load with hard pine 
planks for Liverpool. The men put the planks in 
thro the port holes in New York and passed them 
thro the opposite ports on to the wharf at Liverpool. 

The crews hailed from various countries. When 
the old man pictured the yards too high for man to 
climb, the small boy's question was satisfied by telling 
him that " a crew of ringtailed monkeys tended them 



76 An Old River Town. 

sails,'* and in the main top was a " crew of 
cuckoons." 

On the way out to sea one day a school of whales 
was encountered and they knocked a hole into her 
hold, the whole school was taken into her hold, re- 
pairs were made and the Rover proceeded home- 
ward. This same hold was at one time loaded with 
magnesia in the lower hold and cambric needles be- 
tween decks, all carefully stowed points up. 

Among the accessories were a railroad, by which 
the officers could go aft ; a telegraph, and the captain 
traveled around the deck on horseback. Truly the 
Rover was not an ordinary coaster. 

It is said that the earliest steamers anchored in the 
river, while passengers and freight were ferried in 
small boats to the shore. The sound of the first 
whistle so alarmed one good elder that he rushed to 
his barn, seized his gun, expecting to shoot a panther. 
Other inhabitants were greatly alarmed thinking a 
man-o'-war was coming. 

The first iron sea-going propeller constructed in 
the United States was the Bangor, built for the 
Bangor Steam Navigation Company and launched 
in Wilmington, Delaware, May 1844. After her 
first trip between Boston and Bangor, she was burned 
in August at Dark Harbor, Islesboro. Alden Parker 
of Bangor, and later of Frankfort was her master. 



River Crafts. 11 

The next year the Bangor was rebuilt at Bucksport, 
was purchased by the Government and renamed the 
Scourge. With her the Alvarado was captured at 
the commencement of the Mexican War. 

Description of the Steamship, " Bangor." 

First Iron Sea-going Propeller Steamer in the U. S. 

Built by the Harlan and Hollingsworth Co., 

Wilmington, Delaware, In 1843—4. 

When bought by the Government, was renamed 

it o »» 

ocourge. 

The '* Bangor ** was the first iron sea-going pro- 
peller steamer constructed in the United States. She 
was begun in October 1 843 ; launched in May of 
1844, and was completed and delivered to her 
owners, the Bangor Steam Navigation Company, of 
Maine, in 1 844. Her dimensions are as follows : 

Length over all on deck, about 131 ft. 

between perpendiculars 120 ft. 

Breadth of beam 23 ft. 

Depth of hold 9 ft. 

This photograph shows her peculiar shape, 
particularly as to her bow and stem, and presents 
a well-marked instance of the type of construction 



78 An Old River Town. 

in vogue at that period. It vv^as, however, con- 
sidered of a very handsome and graceful design by 
all the critics of that day. 

She had three wooden masts, schooner-rigged, 
with bowsprit and jibboom, carrying a suit of eight 
sails. 

Her accommodations were as follows: — The 
crew's quarters were located forward in the hull. 
The passengers were carried on deck in a commodi- 
ous house fitted up in a style of elegance unusual in 
those days, and considered particularly handsome by 
her owners and builders. Upon the interior of this 
house was a comfortable saloon, surrounded by sleep- 
ing accommodations intended for night service. 
When built there were two deck houses upon the 
vessel, the third or forward house, as shown in photo- 
graph, having been added afterward. The galley, 
pantry, lamp and other rooms were located amidships. 
The pilot house was located aft for sea-going pur- 
poses, and had one room abaft for the use of the com- 
mander and pilot. 

Her machinery consisted of independent twin 
screw propeller engines. The propeller wheels were 
of the Loper type. The boiler was of the type 
known as the " drop flue." 

A custom house was here as early as 1853. In 
that year between August and December, seventy- 



River Crafts. 79 

eight vessels were recorded as cleared. Lincoln ap- 
pointed Theophilus Gushing as collector of the port 
in 1861 and he occupied the southern part of the 
post office building. Captain George Dudley suc- 
ceeded him in the office. 

A report in 1 862 gives foreign entries 1 5, clear- 
ances 27; the value of foreign exports was 
$5,160,055. 

A paper of that time states that these vessels were 
all or partly loaded with articles of foreign produc- 
tion. A very much larger number was loaded with 
domestic produce for home ports, but these were not 
required to enter or clear. During the same year 
90.000 bushels of potatoes and 12,000 bushels of 
barley were shipped. The potatoes went to feed 
the army, and the barley went to the French army 
in Mexico where it was fed out to transportation 
teams. 

The port of customs was removed to Hampden 
and now Bangor is the port of entry for the district. 



THEIR CAPTAINS. 

In our village, one is so used to addressing a man 
as captain, that for the moment the significance of 
the title is forgotten. The captain is master — com- 
mander — no matter how small is his craft, his prestige 
is the same. For him a ship is built; but this com- 
pliment stirs not his pride nor touches his vanity one- 
half so much as vv^hen he can tell you some incident 
relative to his life as cabin boy or as one of the crew. 

And when he has taken his last voyage the title 
still lives on the slate slab which marks his resting- 
place, unless mayhap he sleep at sea. 

While most of his life is spent far from home, yet 
the various errands entrusted to his wisdom and the 
many offices which he must perform, amply fulfil all 
his duties as citizen. 

Has he made successful purchases of clothing or 
of provisions while away? Then is his vessel con- 
verted into a store and visited by many customers on 
his return. 

Perhaps while waiting in a distant port he has 
80 




Fan From Liverpool, 07'er loo Years Old 



Their Captains. 81 

been visited by a father or mother and some message 
is entrusted to his care for a son or daughter in this 
far-away wilderness. He is paid the courtesy of 
** Politeness of Capt — " given the carefully folded 
sheet which is letter and envelope too, and his coming 
is eagerly awaited by those who know him for a 
trusty messenger. 

What confidence is placed in his ability to choose 
articles for the house or even of wearing apparel; 
sets of dishes — twelve dozen dinner plates and others 
in proportion; a china tea set; table linen by the 
piece, bleached and unbleached. So careful was his 
selection that one piece has come down thro genera- 
tions, mother, daughter and granddaughter — and is 
now treasured by the last of four Marys. 

Choice of wall paper for the best room was a 
task slight in comparison with selection of silk for a 
bridal gown, or a fan for a gift. It was worth 
months of waiting to take the latter from its heavy 
pasteboard case — and behold it when spread — of 
English parchment whose front was a gorgeously 
painted garden, its back showing Eve in the garden 
while near by Pan is skipping to his pipes; its ivory 
sticks, exquisitely carved, were inlaid with pearl and 
silver. 

When trading is over and the hundred and one 
errands incident to the home coming dispensed with. 



82 An Old River Town. 

from the old sea chest in the corner of the cabin, the 
captain takes a bundle; with care he bears it home, 
lays it on the table — an offering to her who has been 
the home captain; perhaps it was a smoked glass 
pitcher from Dublin that took his fancy. 

Then follow happy days to his boys — who may 
go daily to the vessel and help in the repairs and in 
the things that need attention before the next voyage ; 
but if they become too boisterous in their play with 
him, this master of wind and wave, unequal to this 
task, must take shelter behind this threat *' Boys, be- 
have yourselves or I'll tell your mother of you." 

He is a welcome guest to any family and an audi- 
ence is never lacking to listen to the news and his 
sailor yarns — over cider and apples till the fire bums 
low. 

Previous to the year 1808 the chief landowners 
in this plantation were the captains ; Kempton, Rich, 
Lombard, Bolan, Johnston, Oakman, McGlathry, 
Sampson and Blaisdell. Three doctors, a few 
farmers and some lawyers had also taken up claims. 

John Kempton, the pioneer of our shipbuilding 
industry was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 
1 740. He came from a family of sailors and in turn 
followed their calling. A trip to the Indies, to the 
Maine coast; among its islands where he bought and 
sold land ; or into Maine rivers completed his travels. 





r 


1 





Poor Laklies, Bo/an House 



Their Captains. 83 

Evidently he was favorably impressed with the 
Maine country, for in the spring of 1789, Captain 
Kempton and Francis Goodwin " set off for the 
Eastward to look up farms to live on." They sailed 
into the Penobscot and at Oak Point were attracted 
by the oaks and pines. Here they landed and tarried 
for a month with one William Colson. Mr. Kemp- 
ton chose a spot on the hill overlooking a cove which 
now bears his name and there put up a rude log 
house. A small parcel of land was purchased, and 
he decided to bring his family here. 

In June Captain Kempton with his friend returned 
to Plymouth and in August of the year following, 
again sailed to the eastward, this time to make it his 
home. 

A wharf was at once built and a frame house set 
on piles near it. In 1773 Captain Kempton be- 
came quite a proprietary owner having purchased 
300 acres of wild land. The sum paid was £137; 
as English money was then reduced in value, he had 
paid seventeen cents an acre. 

This hitherto quiet spot must have been surprised 
at the busy days which followed the coming of the 
packet to its shore. At the first sounds of the ax a 
small clearing was made ; then trees were spotted and 
a trail marked to the distant neighbors, to the shore or 
to the county way; trees were felled and the rude 



84 An Old River Town. 

frame of a house reared ; when oaks were cut down 
their branches shaped a vessel's hull, and pines 
dragged from the near hillsides became her masts. 
How a stray Indian must have wondered what all 
this meant and questioned how the coming of a white- 
winged bird could have effected this change in his 
landscape ! 

Seven sons and a daughter were born in this home. 
Glimpses of the family life, as the years rolled on, 
show us that in spite of labor there was time for 
meditation, learning and pleasure. Books still are 
preserved from the household; religious, school and 
music books tell us how spare minutes were occupied. 

As soon as a son became of age he shipped as a 
sailor ; his home letters were full of thought and con- 
sideration for the welfare of parents; a part of his 
earnings were sent home and his interest in younger 
brothers and the sister was not lessened. The 
father's counsel was *' never expose yourself unneces- 
sarily but always do your duty; " and the boy was 
always " your respectful and obedient son." 

There was time to help at the houseraising of a 
neighbor and to join in the festivities that followed; 
to sip a glass of wine at a wedding, take a friendly 
cup of afternoon tea or to join a " Christmas frolic " 
at Colson's. 

In later years the family moved to the village and 



Their Captains. 85" 

Captain Kempton traded in a store at the Ferryway. 

One may visit the Point to-day ; find the site of the 
cabin ; the few logs that remained of the wharf but the 
descendants of this family are scattered in the States. 

Just north of the twin oaks at the cemetery one may 
find a tombstone with this inscription. 

In memory of 

Capt. 

Timothy Lombard 

who died at Sea Jan. 22 1 804. 

Aged 42 years 

Anna Lombard his wife 

who died March 9 1835 

Aged 75 years. 

Captain Lombard was a native of Truro, Massa- 
chusetts and his wife Anna Collins came from the 
same town. In 1 799 he was a resident of Orrington, 
buying and selling land at Frankfort. By 1803 he 
had acquired about three hundred acres and had 
come to live just north of Judge Goodwin. He was 
master of the American brig Ranger, a packet and 
trader. After his death his wife lived at the 
homestead. Of their many daughters. Thankful 
Lydia, Nancy, Charlotte, Betsey and Joama, a 
brother sailor remarked that there was *' a lot of them 



86 An Old River Town. 

Lombard girls and they married every one in tov^n.*' 
There was some truth in this statement when we 
realize how many of the villagers can claim the Lom- 
bard girls as ancestors. 

One of the daughters married John Bolan who 
bought the place and it is now in that family. The 
low weather-stained walls of the house peer up over 
the trees at river travelers; and not the least of its 
attractions are the quaint door latches, many of which 
are hand made ; and which admit us to the hundred- 
year-old house whose owners appreciate the value of 
carved mantels, hand-cut wainscoting and other finish 
that meant hours and hours of skilled labor. 

One of the oldest houses in town is standing on the 
" Tommy Johnson place " which for a century and 
more remained in the hands of that family. Its orig- 
inal owner. Captain Miller Johnston was of Scotch 
descent. The name brings to our mind an early colo- 
nial governor, a noted general and a little town in 
Scotland. Captain Johnston came to Frankfort from 
Nova Scotia about 1 789. We know very little of 
him personally but there are memories of the home 
and family which interest us. We do know that in 
his travels he had become a Mason at Newburyport, 
Massachusetts, in 1 776. 

Like many of his fellows, as he sailed up the river 
he liked the location and determined upon it as a 




The To)ii»iy Johnson //oi/s 



Their Captains. 87 

home. According to custom a log hut was his first 
shelter. A landing at the shore was constructed ; and 
a house raised later. The land was improved and an 
orchard set out. The front door facing the east and 
the river remind us that the lane which later became a 
country road, then ran on the river side of the house 
instead of along the present highway. Probably the 
original main road can be traced by the old houses 
which open their doors to the river. 

The house was large and well built. Overlooking 
the river on the north was the sitting-room; this was 
elaborately finished with scroll and grooved work. 
Its fireplace seemed enormous to a granddaughter 
who recalls that she could " sit on a cricket " and be 
protected in its sheltering sides. On the southern side 
was the parlor — no one can tell of that because, like 
all parlors, its curtains were drawn and the doors 
closed except on state occasions. 

The family room, the kitchen, occupied the whole 
western side of the house and was supplemented by 
a winter kitchen and the buttery. Its enormous fire- 
place and the brick oven had all necessary appoint- 
ments. 

Captain Johnston enlisted in the War of 1812 and 
was at the Battle of Hampden. His fellow towns- 
man, Tobias Oakman, was shot at his side as they 
were going over a stone wall. 



88 An Old River Town. 

From this enlistment Captain Johnston received 
Western land, which with the homestead passed into 
the hands of his only son, Thomas Johnston. Deacon 
Tommy Johnson and his wife were among the charter 
members of the present Congregational church. Mr. 
Johnston was an austere man but greatly respected, 
and to his wife always fell the duty of making the 
communion wine. 

Their home is remembered by the young people of 
that day — there was a good orchard; at the shore 
were the tallest oaks, and a fine swing was suspended 
there which at high tide swung far out over the river. 
Altho Ephraim Grant is always hailed as captain, 
yet his life and influence as a landsman are felt more 
in the town. 

A native of Berwick, Maine, he married Abigail 
Thurrell, July 4, 1 779. With two brothers Adam 
and William with their families, Ephraim sailed for 
the Penobscot country — at just what date is un- 
known. A deed of 1 777 says that " Ephraim Grant 
of Wheelersboro in Penobscot yoeman " sold part of 
a sawmill. The lumbering and milling advantages 
drew them here. 

Of the two brothers, one settled in the woods a 
couple of miles inland and traveled to town by spotted 
trees — where he often preached in Sampson's barn. 
A few now living remember listening in their youth 



Their Captains. 89 

to the exhortations of Elder Adam Grant. William 
settled on the west side of Marsh Stream where he 
built a sawmill four miles inland. His fame and 
name are not forgotten and many recall stories of the 
lame old man who was an expert trapper; for the 
valley of that stream was rich in game and afforded a 
livelihood to many who hunted the bear, deer and 
fox. 

A log house which had been put up in 1 776 be- 
came the temporary home of Ephraim. He owned a 
small vessel, the Mamy Grant. To-day the Post 
Office, High Head, Chick Common and Ferry Street 
all lie within the hundred acre lot of his purchase in 
I 796. He built his frame house just south of meeting 
house hill. 

Material for the frame came from up river; the 
three brothers went to " Mill Crick," (South Orring- 
ton) for Norway pines which were rafted down the 
river. As they were landed each timber was charred 
a little; that is, a log was held up about a foot and 
a half from the ground. The hewings strewn under 
it as kindlings were set on fire. The Grant bam 
which is the oldest building in town is now standing 
at John Carleton's where it was moved in 1 854 and 
its cedar timbers are as sound to-day as when it was 
built. The nails used were made by the blacksmith's 
hand. 



90 An Old River Town. 

The family of six children increased to ten. Father 
and sons converted the wild land into a thrifty farm 
with hay fields and an orchard. The two yokes of 
oxen were pressed into service in clearing other lands, 
hauling wood and ploughing. 

On this hilltop town meetings were held *' to 
choose new Officers for Training " or to ** see about a 
minister." 

" Feb. 6, 1 797, Town meeting at Captain 
Grant's for the purpose of choosing Federal 
Representation and doing something about a 
minister we universally voted for J. Parker for 
Rep. and voted to give ten dollars to ELnoch 
Mudge, a Methodist preacher as a present towd 
defraying his traveling expenses." 

It is related that in 1812 a captain of the ship 
Monmouth, who had met with an accident at Cas- 
tine, unable to proceed with his soldiers was given 
shelter at Captain Grant's. The English were on the 
lookout for him, but learning of their approach. Cap- 
tain Grant shouldered his guest and hid him in the 
vale in the Sampson pasture where a bed had been 
prepared for the sick man, who finally escaped and 
reached his home. 

Then Cap'n Grant took his family and journeyed 
to the Kennebeck. The road to Kennebeck was over 



Their Captains. 91 

Chick Common, thro Goshen, Monroe and Dixmont. 
When we are told that they returned in winter, mak- 
ing their way on snow shoes and hauling provisions on 
a sled, we can imagine some of the difficulties of their 
journey. 

In their absence a privateer had anchored in the 
river, British soldiers had used their home as barracks 
and when departing had appropriated hay and pro- 
visions to take to Castine. 

Mr. and Mrs. Grant passed the later years of their 
life with a son and lived to know that 55 grand- 
children " might rise up and call them blessed." 

The Giles Memorial of the Sampsons and other 
families in Plymouth, Massachusetts says that Enoch 
Sampson was born there March 18, 1 758, a son of 
Stephen, one of six brothers and two sisters. 

Captain Sampson came to Buckstown about 1 790, 
then two years later crossed the river to Frankfort. 
By 1 797 he had bought about 900 acres in the settle- 
ment, had built a wharf, a house, barn and store 
where he traded. 

He had been a seaman for nearly a year on the 
armed brig Hazard. This vessel was fitted out in 
I 111 by the State of Massachusetts and had taken 
several prizes among them the ship Live Oak, 

Of Captain Sampson's sons — one was a town clerk 
for many years, a captain of the militia company and 



92 An Old River Town. 

" a gentleman held in high degree." And Mrs. 
Sampson's seven daughters are remembered as an 
** ornament to the community." 

One of the most admired vievv^s along our Penob- 
scot is that of the Camden Hills. To Frankforters 
these should have a special interest, personal as w^ell 
as artistic. For Mt. Batty, one of the elevations, is 
more often called by the older people of that town 
McGlathry's Mountain because its former owner was 
William McGlathry — who later became a prominent 
man in Frankfort. 

Captain William McGlathry was of Scotch-Irish 
descent, born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1 750. In his boy- 
hood his parents moved to Bristol, Maine. Captain 
McGlathry and his wife settled in Camden where 
he was a selectman for some years. Paul Coffin, the 
Maine Missionary, was entertained at their home and 
says in his journal " Square McG. treated me with 
true and simple politeness and hospitality." 

He moved to Frankfort and in 1 799 built the large 
square-roofed house which is still remembered by 
many. It was at the southern end of the village and 
from its eminence under the elms the inmates could 
see the British vessels as they went up the river or 
cast anchor at night-fall waiting to go to the towns 
above us. Around the large chimney, the finish 
formed boxes, which could be used as places of con- 



Their Captains. 93 

cealment at the approach of the enemy. Of the 
family, a daughter and five sons. Uncle Charlie, a 
good-natured old man and very moderate in his 
ways was the last to pass away. 

For some years this family had the distinction of 
owning the one riding carriage in town — this was a 
two-wheeled chaise which not only did service for the 
family but for the neighbors as well. A young doctor 
" lent Esq. McG. my mare to go to Hampden in a 
chaise for which I am to have his chaise when I want 
it." One man told me *' The first show I ever went 
to when a young boy was a white bear in a show tent 
in McGlathry's yard." 

During the Revolution Captain McGlathry was 
sailing a vessel which was captured by a privateer. 
Three men were put on board to take the prize to 
Halifax. The captain had been manacled and put 
on the quarter deck. Seeking some means of escape, 
he knocked the bung from the water barrel. A crew 
without fresh water, and ignorant of the coast needed 
a pilot to take them somewhere for water. The ship's 
captain was the only one conversant with the coast. 
He steered her for the nearest port, Machias, whose 
citizens seized the vessel and its captors became the 
captured and prisoners of war. Captain McGlathry 
was allowed to sail for home and safety. 

Aside from these recollections the sum of all that 



94 An Old River Town. 

is remembered about the " old Square " is that he was 
always a gentleman. 

Ebeneezer Blaisdell, a native of Rhode Island, was 
a soldier under General Waldo at Fort Pownall and 
helped in its construction. In his trips up and down 
the river he had become acquainted with the country 
and later settled and built a home here. 

Some years before his death he divided his prop- 
erty among his ten children giving to Ebeneezer Jr. 
the homestead. The old house, now 122 years old 
is the oldest house in town and is still in th'S family; 
here yearly the sons of E. Ferrin Blaisdell return, 
gladly welcomed by old friends and neighbors as the 
" Blaisdell boys." 

Other captains are James Bolan, Jonathan Merrill, 
Henry and William Mansfield, Amos and James 
Sproul, Tobias Thompson, Sewell and Isaiah Lara- 
bee; the Riches, Nehemiah, John and Nathaniel; a 
long list of Atwoods, Joshua, Henry, John, Thomas 
and Nathaniel. 

The early packet trade between this and Massa- 
chusetts towns, bringing supplies, carrying lumber or 
perhaps accommodating a few passengers gradually 
developed into what in later years is known as coast- 
ing trade. To-day the term is applied to trade be- 
tween our port and any on the Atlantic coast of the 
United States. Many of these crafts have been built 



Their Captains. 95 

here, manned by home sailors and owned by lands- 
men in the town. 

It sometimes seems as if captains " were born not 
made " when we read of these experiences. 

Years ago when the cabin boy and cook on his 
father's vessel was asked if he could sail a vessel from 
Rockland to Stockton the answer was " yes." The 
boy was twelve, his brother of eight acted as mate and 
probably no man has ever been prouder returning 
from a rough voyage than those two little chaps when 
they had steered the Ceylon safely into Stockton har- 
bor. Sailing papers he had none but from that day 
there could be no question to his title. To-day no 
part of coastwise waters Is unknown to him, he has 
owned a long list of vessels and now when he has re- 
tired, can look back over a life of faithful service, 
free from accidents and always attended by good 
luck. 

Thro two decades another sailor can recount his 
experience. 

As cabin boy he went to South America. As 
mate on a vessel that carried out the first governor of 
Liberia to Sierra Leone he took his first African trip. 
A testament presented by this governor is treasured 
as a memento. As sailing master he went to Cape 
Verde on the Amelia; from there returning to Balti- 
more with the first oranges that were ever shipped to 



96 An Old River Town. 

the United States from that locality. Thirty voyages 
to the West Indies, many times to Europe and the 
Mediterranean ports, and his last voyage to Leith, 
Scotland, the home of his fathers complete the story : 

" Home from the Indies and home from the 

ocean. 

Heroes and soldiers we all shall come home; 

Honored and old and all gaily apparelled, . 

Here we shall meet and remember tlie past," 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 

If it is true that all roads lead to Rome, then in the 
early times our Rome must have been the river; for 
the settlers of old Frankfort departed from the usual 
Newr England custom of laying out villages, placing 
a meeting house on a green, building the town around 
it and running all roads thereto or therefrom. They 
set each house on a hill overlooking the w^ater and 
for a time the river was a sufficient highway. A path 
through the woods, traveled by snowshoe in winter, 
might serve them for an occasional visit to a neighbor's 
— a mile away. In summer the Indian trail might 
guide them. But home building and home cares left 
little time for such intercourse. 

Then too in the woods were stragglers more 
dreaded than the Indian whom they cared not to 
meet ; bears were plenty and it was not unusual to see 
one trotting past the door ; mothers did not allow their 
children to go far, fearing the wild creatures would get 
them. One small boy returning from the store with 
a spool of thread was overtaken by a big fellow puf- 

97 



98 An Old River Town. 

fing along behind him. The frightened child ran for 
home, bruin ran too but in another direction. Need- 
less to say, no more errands took that lad from home. 

Probably the first public way ran to the river. 
Coulliard's ferry landing was on a point just off High 
Head, and around the shore to the right the passen- 
gers wore a path straight over the hill, thro the woods 
and into the country. In time this became a bridle 
road, the ferryway, and by 1 804 had been laid out as 
a " road understood to be three rods wide " and is 
now Ferry Street. It crossed a road which ran from 
Belfast to Hampden and it figures in deeds as the 
'* road that goes from Penobscot river towards Ken- 
nebeck,** and was of some importance in 1 792 as the 
Goshen road. 

Two brothers, Joshua and Kenney Coulliard dwell 
on either side of the river and tended the ferry. Prob- 
ably it was no easy task in winter, when the river ran 
full of floating ice, to manage a dugout, especially if 
an animal was to be towed behind. The price of 
conveyance differed, but at one time it was twelve 
cents one way and ten cents the other. 

As Castine was the county seat and chief trade 
center for the region, anyone who wished to go there 
must be ferried to Buckstown making the rest of the 
way on foot or on horseback. From inland came any 
who had business at Castine Court, while men in 



Highways and Byways. 99 

public office who consulted with Judge Goodwin on 
plantation affairs, Indian affairs and on other matters, 
must ferry here. 

Prisoners from hereabouts must be taken to the 
capital for trial and punishment. We have the fol- 
lowing picture of one unfortunate just before his de- 
parture. 

*' I have just come from M — 's in melancholy 
mood enough. When I went in I found a man 
there advanced in years indifferently clad, whom 
M — had taken for debt and was Conducting 
to Castine Gaol. Yet in these embarrasing cir- 
cumstances he was playing on the violin and ex- 
ercising his stiff shoes on the floor in attempts to 
dance — highly to the merriment of those 
present." 

There is a story that three deserters from the 
British army at Castine escaped as far as this ferry. 
Then they were betrayed to their pursuers, taken back 
down river, and were shot kneeling on their coffins. 

Jesse Lee, the founder of Methodism in this prov- 
ince came to Frankfort in 1 793. Before this his 
eloquence had gathered 3000 people on Boston Com- 
mon. He then started to spread the gospel thro the 
wilderness — journeying on horseback. His saddle 

LOFC 



100 An Old River Town. 

bags contained Bible, hymn book and any necessary 
clothing. It was a long trip from the Kennebec to 
Thomaston, crossing the Penobscot to Castine, then 
up the eastern side of the river where he recrossed to 
Frankfort. He was gladly received; the people 
offered to hire him, desiring him to settle among them. 
But his journal says " it had no weight for I am no 
hireling " and he returned to Boston by the way of 
Kennebec. 

The ferrymen always command our respect, we 
are always so dependent upon their judgment for our 
comings and goings, and whether they live on this 
side or the other they are always ours. To Mr. James 
Curtis who for fifty years has plied the oars back and 
forth over this water we may pay a tribute from our 
Maine poet. 

" Honor and reverence and the good repute — 
That follows faithful service as its fruit 
Be unto him who living we salute." 

He was always ready to respond to the bell which 
swung from its high post at the foot of the hill and no 
captain of an ocean liner had more the confidence of 
his passengers than he had. Authority on all 
weather, he knew winds, tides and fogs, and no mat- 
ter how dark the night or how rough the river, we 
knew that with him we should reach the other side. 



Highways and Byways. 101 

The stretch of woods now known as Chick Com- 
mon lies up over the hill on either side of the old 
Goshen road. Altho we had no church green this 
served as a common or gathering-place. To it ran 
Cowpath Lane where the village cattle went to graze. 
One settler " let his mare run on the common and 
found it nearly as good as the neighboring pastures." 
But one day she was needed for a professional call 
and was not to be found. 

For the last generation it has been a favorite picnic 
ground. Hemlocks, pines and birches grew there 
while oaks and many large beeches made it a resort 
for family parties in the nutting season. They used to 
take sheets and spread them on the ground. The 
boys climbed the trees to shake the big branches while 
the girls gathered the nuts into bags; and before going 
home perhaps each one cut his name in the silvery 
bark high up as he could reach. If we walk thro the 
avenue of the common now we see but few of the big 
trees, some even yet showing the marks of picnic 
times. — And from many stumps spring the fresh 
green twigs of new trees, while near by are fallen 
trunks whose old leaves, now transparent parchment, 
still cling to the branches. 

The first record of road making which I found was 
in Judge Goodwin's dlaiy. In 1 792 he mentions 
*' working on the road." TTie felling of trees, digging 



102 An Old River Town. 

out roots and stumps must have been work indeed. 
In the fall of 1 794 he " began to work on the County 
Road and laid the string pieces of a bridge back of 
Bolan's." This bridge was covered the following 
December. 

Previously there had been rough ways, sufficient 
for hauling lumber and firewood. The ox was used 
as beast of burden. A vehicle for taking lumber to 
market after the snow had gone was called a car. 
This was made of two poles with rungs like a ladder. 
One end dragged on the ground and the forward 
end was left open for the horse; the poles, entering 
rings in the harness, were fastened there by pins. TTie 
horse collar was of twisted hay. This harness often 
led to dissension among drivers. The horses, while 
waiting for their masters to trade, would secure a meal 
from one another's collars. 

The county road lay between Hampden and Bel- 
fast. Each of these towns were small settlements 
then. Several rods back from it lay the *' old road " 
to the Marsh which was probably used for wood 
hauling. This was discontinued later. 

At the opening of the century, sleighs and wheeled 
vehicles were in use. On the 22d of February, 1 800. 
Doctor Goodwin 

went up to Hampden with Captain Sampson 



Highways and Bywayb. 103 

in his sleigh and we walked in procession from 
Captain Wheelers' to the meeting house, the 
Company of Artillery and the free masons and 
military officers, judicial officers. Town officers 
strangers and Citizens where the Rev. Enoch 
Mudge addressed the throne of Grace, several 
peaces of music an ode composed by Mrs. 
Mudge and a very pertinant address to the free 
masons and the rest of the assembly on the sub- 
lime Nature of our departed friend Father and 
Brother General George Washington — the same 
was very solemn." 

Town meetings have been held on the public high- 
way. We know of one in the plantation which was 
held on a lumber pile near the cross roads and it was 
voted that " no person should be permitted to play at 
Ball, Quoits, Ninepins, or any other game in high- 
ways or town ways, under penalty of two Dollars 
each for Each offense." 

At the present time a Norway pine stands alone in 
a field near the Bolan bridge and is known as the 
Bacon tree. After the cocoa episode of 1 779 when 
the British fleet had departed down river, a sloop, 
under a flag of truce, returned to the village demand- 
ing the cocoa. Some of it had been taken on board 
when Lieutenant Morse discovered arms on her. He 



104 An Old River Town. 

threw the cocoa overboard, set fire to the sloop, took 
her crew prisoners and departed. Our people be- 
came so alarmed, fearing a return of the British, that 
many fled to the country, many burned their house- 
hold goods or buried silver in the gardens. But this 
old Pine did good service by concealing within its 
thick foliage the valuables of Judge Goodwin — his 
silver and supply of hams. He desired that this tree 
be preserved and cared for. 

Along this County Road traveled so many differ- 
ent people and on such different errands. 

Now it is a party of ladies and gentlemen who are 
making their way on horseback to Mount Misery. 
They decide that it deserves a better name and one of 
the number climbs a tree, breaking a bottle and gives 
it the name of Mount Waldo. 

Now it is a group of villagers, in 1814, hastening 
to Beale Mountain to watch the coming of the enemy. 
Three ships come in sight, their troops all on deck, 
in gay uniform. They were impressed when, six 
days later on the return from the Hampden battle, 
these same troops appeared and demanded provision 
and cattle. A strange sight indeed to see Redcoats 
and gaily dressed Germans in green jackets and high 
hats on this quiet highway. 

And again our own soldiers paced it as they went 




y he Bacon Trtc 



Highways and Byways. 105 

to Captain Grant's for training or marched to and 
from that same battle. 

Like Rome of old we have our seven hills. At 
North Frankfort is the long Sabine hill ; at the south- 
ern end of town, Guide Board hill whose mile post 
directs us to Belfast or out past the site of gypsy 
camps, past the old watering trough to Mouseville 
and Monroe; between them lie Sproul's, Thayer's, 
Cushing's and Shaw's hills. Last but by no means 
least there is Christian Hill so named, I am told, be- 
cause the families there were so united and lived in 
such a friendly way. 

In the dark days of Civil War, now and then at 
nightfall a footsore traveler is seen making his way 
along the highroad and seeking the big house on 
Cushing's hill because it was an underground station 
and he could spend a comfortable night, and in the 
morning be set on his way to Bangor. From thence 
he could reach the border. 

Across on the opposite hill free hospitality was 
dispensed. An invitation to a wedding at Square 
Shaw's is dated '* Jackson Hill 1 2 o'clock at night, 
Apr. 1 8, 1 829 " and shows the political inclinations 
of its owner. A grand ball was given here at the in- 
auguration of the seventh president. Shaw's hill or 
the Lebanon road as it is now called is an extension 



i06 An Old River Town. 

of Commercial street which had been laid out or 
swamped from the county road to the river. 

Down town the land bounded by Main, Marine, 
Mechanic and Holmes streets is known as The 
Square. The last three streets probably were laid 
out soon after 1841 when the steam mill was run- 
ning. The large white house at the comer of Me- 
chanic and Holmes streets was built for a mill board- 
ing house. For many years it was vacant and was 
supposed to be haunted. A street runs diagonally 
across the square. A plan had been on foot to build 
a church on the site of the present Catholic Church. 
The big house now owned by Mrs. Anne Bowden, 
was designed for a parsonage, and the name Parson- 
age street was given to the thoroughfare. A disagree- 
ment arose among the promoters of the religious 
society and the house was sold. At one time it ac- 
commodated five families, three of them French; and 
later, a Quaker family lived there. 

Down over the hill below Mechanic street is a 
hollow familiarly known as the Holler. Here before 
1850 settled many Irish families who had come to 
work in the mill. The names Kelley, Morrisey, Mc- 
Dermott, McDonough, McCormack, Mogan, Lath- 
lin, and Foley are familiar. 

Whig street extends from Mr. Frank Haley's store 
to Carleton's comer and on to Cole*s corner. An 



Highways and Byways. 107 

enclosed triangle is formed where it crosses the old 
Goshen road in the center of which for many years 
stood an oak. At one time it was proposed to make 
a park of this land and once it was mentioned as a 
site for the soldier's monument. The men most in- 
fluential in the laying out of this street were whigs, 
hence its name. 

A newspaper of 1855 has the following in its edit- 
orial. " We need an organized effort to improve our 
village." It recommends *' an extension of Mechanic 
street to Main; that Oak street be extended along 
the shore till it connects with Water street at the 
ferry. This would open up a number of building 
and wharf lots for market." It also states that the 
" destruction of old oak groves and murmuring pines 
which graced the rear of our village have nearly or 
quite disappeared," and " the town is barren of orna- 
mental trees in foliage except where private enter- 
prise has embellished private streets and residences." 

The rows of elm trees which now ornament the 
county road or the Main street did not simply happen 
there, but are due to the enterprise of six or seven 
young men of the town. Only two of these men, 
Benjamin Atwood and Bradford Dean are living, 
and one of them says: " I never visit my old home 
without feeling proud of this day's work about which 
we thought so little when we were doing it." 



108 An Old River Town. 

As we were on two stage lines — the Belfast and 
Bangor route and the one to Hallowel and Boston — 
there were many taverns along the road. Their 
keepers were men of consequence in the community, 
for in those days landlords must be men recommended 
by town officers. To their care travelers must entrust 
themselves and their valuables often. 

The old Chick House was formerly an inn and 
was built in 1807 by a Mr. Martin. He built far 
beyond his means, the neighbors say, and they called 
it Martin's Folly. It was originally a hip-roofed 
house, but when it was repaired in 1857, was 
changed. Weird tales were told to children, that it 
was a haunted house. It contained a large dance 
hall and at one gathering when a ball was given, a 
British soldier attempted to enter ; he was shot on the 
stairs. After that the slumber of many a guest was 
disturbed by strange and unusual sounds which were 
supposed to be the footsteps of this soldier who, in 
his uniform, was pacing the floor by night. Later 
a Mr. Rowe was landlord. Again dances were held 
in the hall and the country people enjoyed eight 
hand reels. Journey to Boston, etc., to the strains of 
Jack Douglas's fiddle and went home the next fore- 
noon. Hie following rhyme shows how Mr. Rowe 
stood with the traveling public. 



Highways and Byways. 109 

** The Bangor House is a house of fame 
The Hampden House is also the same 
The Frankfort House is very well 
But they can't hold a candle to Rowe*s hotel." 

The Kelley homestead was also a tavern, built in 
1802 by a Mr. Cox. While a chimney was being 
repaired in recent years, the mason found a letter 
hidden there which was addressed to a British 
officer in Castine from one in Frankfort. 

Another public house was the one now occupied 
by Caleb R. Lougee. It was kept by Aaron Hol- 
brook. Bar-room and hall were on either side of the 
entry and many entertainments were held in the lat- 
ter, among them was an exhibition of Wcix works, one 
of the figures being Lady Helen Mar. 

The Little tavern, now the home of Mrs. John 
Sproul, which was erected about 1814, is not far 
from this. Three large trees stood in front of it. 
Between them and the door was a driveway and 
from the largest oak was suspended a sign which 
creaked as it swung in the wind. 

A tavern was kept, on the Goshen road near the 
Blaisdell farm, by a Scotchman, John Spearing. 
This was a stage stand where post horses were 
changed, and a house for the acconmmodation of 
teamsters. This house had for many years one guest 



110 An Old River Town. 

known to many as a forgotten hero, Hatevil Colson, 
who in his younger days had been an extensive land 
owner, yeoman his deed is signed. 

Disappointment in love had made him a wanderer 
thro the country, a tramp. He roamed over the state, 
cared for by anyone at whose door he sought shelter, 
always a welcome visitor; yet good-natured Hate 
regarded this tavern as his home. He was always 
ready to render a good turn, and as often his keen 
wit played some wild prank wherever his fancy led 
him. 

He appeared at Castine during its occupation by 
the British and asked one of the generals if he had 
ever seen a Yankee humming bird. TTie gentleman 
said that he had not, so Hate promised to get one, 
adding that they were fine singers. He soon came 
back with a hornet's nest, the opening of which had 
been stopped up. The general was informed that 
if he wished to hear them sing he must put the nest 
in a closed room with even the keyhole sealed. This 
was done according to orders; captain and officers 
shut themselves into the vessel's cabin — and the birds 
did begin to sing. Of course they were badly stung. 
The country was scoured for the culprit but Hate 
had fled to the woods. 

During one January thaw some children were 
playing near the main road and Hate came along 



Highways and Byways. 1 1 1 

with a pair of new shoes. Taking his knife he cut 
a piece from each toe and heel, put them on and 
started to walk thro the slush and melting snow. 
When the curious children asked why he did it, he 
said : " Why, to let the water run out when it runs 
in, of course." 

In the ell chamber at the tavern were several straw 
beds. Also boxes of grain, some oats, and peas were 
stored. One day Hate sewed all of them, about 
forty bushels, into the straw ticks and ran away. 
The landlord's thirteen children were kept from mis- 
chief for some time sorting out the mixture. He came 
back not long after and when Mrs. Spearing asked 
him why he did it, he said : *' Now, now, don't you 
worry about that, we'll have the garden of Eden 
and it will be a beautiful spot." 

Perhaps he was irresponsible, but we may also 
remember his good deeds; when he made his way 
to Belfast to warn the inhabitants of the coming of 
the British and saved their cattle; or of his long 
tramp to Hampden to warn the farmers to be on 
the look out. The last year of his life he was " bid 
off " to a new home where he died in June 1 82 1 , 
and the last rite his landlord could perform for him 
was to plant a tree on his grave. 

Among other taverns was the big house at the foot 
of ferry hill, a haunt of sailors and seamen; the 



112 An Old River Town. 

Kemptons kept a hotel at the top of the same hill. 
At the lower village was the old Frankfort house 
kept by Major Hersey. At its burning the bucket 
brigade exhausted the big brook at the foot of Whig 
street. 

The Commercial house was built in 1 833 or 34 ; 
the bricks were of home production from the clay 
bank at the foot of Commercial street. Its old 
registers bear many interesting names and the pages 
are elaborately decorated with announcements of 
shows to appear at Clark's hall. The grand jubilee 
and ball at the incorporation of the town of Winter- 
port, April 30, 1 860 was held in it. In front of the 
house hung a transparency bearing ** Winterport, 
I860." " All was life and animation within " says 
the paper, " where the rooms were filled with a 
happy crowd enjoying themselves in social conversa- 
tion. At twelve o'clock supper was served, which 
was a credit to mine host Johnson . . . who ever 
enjoyed a reputation second to no landlord for many 
miles around." 

Four and eight horse concord coaches stopped at 
this hotel daily en route to Black's corner. Here and 
at Black's corner were the relays of horses. The 
coaches accommodated nine and twelve passengers 
during the Aroostook war and the days of speculation 
and there was plenty to do. The postal service was 



Highways and Byways. 1 1 3 

by stage and in '49 and '50 the arrival of California 
mail was announced by the display of an American 
flag in front of the post office. In those years people 
would have to stay here two and three days waiting 
to take the boat, so hotels flourished. But with the 
installation of telegraph, guests became fewer, busi- 
ness declined. With the coming of steam the stage 
coach and post chaise gradually disappeared. 



THE SETTLERS AND THEIR HOMES. 

The demands which a new country made upon 
its pioneers were much greater than those which set- 
tlers at a later date were called upon to meet. They 
endured privation and hardship which served to de- 
velop consciences keen to do the right and characters 
strong and vigorous. From their lives comes an in- 
fluence to us thro the years. TTiere were many men 
and women who gave the best of themselves to 
family, to neighbors and to their country, but of 
whose everyday lives but few facts are preserved; 
yet at the sound of their names, some memory is re- 
vived, some noble influence is felt. Truly this is a 
lasting remembrance and more enduring than any 
written word. They will never be truly forgotten. 

There were farmers, John Hegan, William Sul- 
livan, Paul Downes, Benjamin Stubbs, John Carle- 
ton and Moses Littlefield ; — who plowed and sowed 
and reaped, whose days were uneventful. Yet when 
the country needed their service, they shouldered guns 

114 



The Settlers and their Homes. 1 1 5 

and responded to her call as quickly as did the 
minute men of Lexington. 

Altho these settlers had come to a new country 
and must endure the discomforts of a Maine winter 
in rude and unplastered houses, there was little illness 
among them. There was not time for it. So for a 
few years there was no physician nearer than Fort 
Point until Doctor Goodwin came. 




In the disastrous defeat of the Penobscot expedi- 
tion in July 1 779, when the vessels of the American 
fleet had been scattered up river, the flag ship War- 
ren was run ashore by her crew just off Oak Point. 
Some of her timbers may still be found in the mud 
at the December tides; a few pieces have been re- 
covered and kept as relics, in the town and in the 
museum at Plymouth. To prevent capture by the 
British, the crew set fire to her, while they took to 
the woods and made their way home by land. 

It may not be commonly known that the hero of 
that famous midnight ride to Lexington once camped 



116 An Old River Town. 

not far from our borders. For it was in this same 
expedition that Colonel Paul Revere was in com- 
mand of the ordnance; and at the dispersal of the 
fleet at Castine he was ordered to follow his general, 
Peleg Wadsworth up river. In his diary he says: 
" I went up as far as Grant's mills where I landed 
to wait for my boat — went a mile into the woods 
and camped for night, set off then for Kennebec." 
For this seeming insubordination he was reprimanded 
and three years passed before he was vindicated. 

The surgeon's mate on the Warren was Francis 
LeBaron Goodwin, who at this time obtained some 
knowledge of the country and, in after years, made a 
permanent home a half mile below the scene of the 
disaster. 

Francis LeBaron Goodwin, the sixth son of Lydia 
LeBaron and Nathaniel Goodwin was born in Ply- 
mouth, Sept. 29, 1 762. On his mother's side 
he traced his ancestry back to a " Nameless Noble- 
man. It was a hundred years before the Penobscot 
affair that a French privateer, its name now un- 
known, had been wrecked in Buzzard's bay. The 
officers and crew were at once made prisoners and 
started for Boston. On the way there, they were 
quartered for the night on Plymouth green. The 
ship's surgeon — Francis LeBaron — thro some slight 
office which he performed for a sick woman near by. 



The Settlers and their Homes. 1 1 7 

received permission to practice medicine in the 
colony. The doctor could not speak English, the 
colonists could not speak French, so John Cotton 
conversed with him in Latin. He lived many use- 
ful years among them and died in the faith of his 
fathers, the Roman Catholic. It was rumored that 
he was a Huguenot who had been compelled by his 
parents to enter a Jesuit college for the priesthood; 
but that this was not his choice. So he had escaped 
over the monastery wall and found refuge on the 
ship. Miss Austin made him the hero of her popular 
novel, The Nameless Nobleman. A visit to Ply- 
mouth town may easily find his tombstone on the 
crest of burial hill. 

*' Here Lyes Ye Body 

of Mr. Francis LeBaron 

Physician who 

Departed this life 

Aug. Ye 8— 1704. 
In Ye 36 year 

of his age.'* 

Of his three sons, one, Lazarus, followed his profes- 
sion and lived in the colony town, on the site of the 
Samoset house. Miss Austin has also pictured him 
and his family in " Dr. LeBaron's Daughters." It 



118 An Old River Town. 

was the daughter of this Doctor Lazarus who be- 
came the mother of our Doctor Goodwin. 

Nathaniel Goodwin had accumulated a good 
estate, many houses and lands; he did considerable 
shipping, owned several vessels and a wharfage. So 
that his son must have become familiar with the sea ; 
and must have acquired much knowledge from the 
sailors who frequented his father's warehouse and the 
tavern house in Leyden street. His birth place is 
still standing nearly opposite Pilgrim Hall and is 
known now as the " Bacon house." 

The town school was kept by Alexander Scannell 
and he may have attended this, but it is more 
probable that he obtained his early education at a 
private school, kept by Peleg Wadsworth, the 
grandfather of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

Doctor Lazarus LeBaron died in I 773 and some 
of his medical library may have fallen to his grand- 
son; but it is likely that his medical education was 
obtained from Dr. William Thomas. 

To him, at his father's death in 1771, fell the 
house in Court street and this was his home till he 
came to Penobscot. The spirit of unrest was upon 
him and for a time, instead of following medicine, 
he was interested in shipping, buying and selling 
lumber. Then, too, he kept up with affairs of the 
world, for his diary tells us that 



The Settlers and their Homes. 1 19 

" Apr. 1 776 President & Corporation &c 
of Harvard College conferred the degree of 
Doctr of Laws on General Washington." 

" July 4, 1 776 The Grand Continental 
Congress declared ye 13 United Colonies free 
and independent States which was received 
with universal applause thro the continent." 

So vitally interested was he that for six years he 
served as a commissioned officer in the fourteenth, 
ninth and third Massachusetts regiments. He must 
have been in the New Jersey campaign and in quar- 
ters at West Point; for from Camp New Bridge, in 
a letter to a brother he deplores the fact that he has 
heard from home but eight times in an absence of five 
months. It shows that he suffered the inconveniences 
of that hard winter when currency was useless and 
food and clothing scarce. 

Sept. 12. 1780. 
*' Most of the time we have been Cantoned in 
tents. We generally encamp about a week, long 
enough to get all things to Writes & then Gen'l 
Beats which is to strike your tent and march away; 
at our first Encampment after we left King's ferry 
which was at Orangetown I was left to take care of 
the sick of our Division which is commanded by a 



120 An Old River Town. 

Gen'l called the Baron of Steuben : there I tarried 3 
weeks which time I spent agreeably, then had orders 
to join * * * while on the march to Hackensack 
to where our next push will be I cannot inform you. 
I am not well prepared for winter on account of 
clothes but am in hopes of getting some from the 
State, how that will be I cannot say." 

In January 1781 he writes from "West Point 
Huts; " these Huts were the winter quarters of the 
Continental troops and were in the woods a couple 
of miles in the rear of the works. He communicates 
with Major Gamaliel Bradford about the 

" purchase of a bed and its furniture which would 

be of Infinite Service to me as I am destitute — if it 

would suit you to part with them I will make you 

ample compensation the first Opportunity that Occurs 

Your Very Humble Servant 

F. L. G." 

At this time he received a letter from his brother, 
Lazarus, wishing him success in his profession. 

You have, my dear brother, my earnest prayer 
for your advancement in life, and may you make 
such proficiency in Surgery as will do Honor to the 



The Settlers and their Homes. 121 

profession. I would have you pay the greatest at- 
tention as you have a fine opportunity to gain ex- 
perience. I hope to see you return an accomplished 
Gentleman w^ithout the Vices Incident to the Army. 
It is a school of politeness but it requires Judgment 
to avoid the excesses vv^hich some of the officers run 
into, your prudence, I hope, will deter you from 
them. 

Lazarus." 

He did enjoy the intercourse of army life and 
was one of the original members of the Society of 
Cincinnati, that fraternity which was formed to 
cherish the friendships made in those trying days of 
the Revolution. Dr. Goodwin refers to it later in 
his journal. 

At the close of the war, he came home and turned 
his attention to making money — this time with some 
incentive. Not far from the Court street cottage 
v/as the house of Chandler Robbins, pastor of the 
first church of Plymouth. As Mr. Robbins was a 
proficient French scholar, had been at Yale, Dart- 
mouth and the University of Edinburgh, a visitor to 
his home jnust have imbibed these influences. The 
young doctor had become a frequent visitor to the 
house, and finally paid court to the divine's 
daughter; his diary relates the sequel — 



122 An Old River Town. 

"Oct. 12. 1786. This Day was De- 
termined a matter of great consequence." 

" Oct. 1 8, 1 786. This day Esq. Spooner 
published our Intentions to the Congregation. 
Parson Sampson of Plimpton preached.'* 

" June 28, 1 787. Married to Miss Jenny 
Robbins. 

Went to housekeeping next day.*' 

After a couple of years of practice in Plymouth, 
Doctor Goodwin came to Frankfort with John 
Kempton to look up a farm. He finally purchased 
one of Hatevil Colson — " 50 acres in consideration 
of three good cows." The men lived on Oak Point 
for two months, returned to Plymouth, and the fol- 
lowing spring Mr. Goodwin came back to build a 
house. The records of its construction show some 
of the trials which beset a pioneer. 

** 1 790 June Ye 22 Mr. Lane came to work 
to frame and set up my house for 9 Bush Com 
or the Value of it. My finding him & one man 
while they are to work on it." 

. . July 1 All hands went over to Raize 
my house but night came on & we could not 
get ready. Next morning all came again & put 
it up before 12 o'clock." 



The Settlers and their Homes. 123 

" . . . July 14 I went to Marsh Bay Mills 
for my Boards." 

" . . . . 17 Hagan halld Boards up to 
the frame this afternoon." 

" 1 790 Aug. 1 6 Peter Holmes was coming 
which he did in the afternoon & brought my 
Bricks & Lime." 

** . . 21 Went up River to 

Wheelers Mills & purchased 2 M Boards & 
Rafted them Down to Oak Point 1 o'clock 
night & the next Monday to my place." 

" . . . . 24 Eben Weilding came to 
work to enclose my house at 1 Bushel Corn 
pr Day or the value thereof." 

" .. .. 26 Raised 26 feetx 18 1 1-2 
story high." 

. . Sept. 12 Mr. Groce a mason & Mr. 
Gorton came ye 13 to put up my chimneys. 
My Grain Eyes are 23 inches apart." 

" . . Oct. 1 Mr. Gorton & Mr. Groce 



124 An Old River Town. 

came to finish my chimneys & compleated them 
Saturday noon & went home." 

The following month Mr. Goodwin went to Ply- 
mouth for the household goods and arrived at 
Frankfort, December 3. 

" Run up to Kempton's Cove in morning and 
took out my things, soon after I landed and took 
possession of my new open house it set in a 
severe snowstorm and cont*d all night and I 
had hearth laid in my Keeping Room that after- 
noon and took up my abode and tarried there 
until ye first of Jan*y then went over to John 
Kemptons to live the rest of the Winter they 
was to Cook and wash for me for my Setting the 
Boys Copies and learning them to Write." 

** 1 791 May ye 6th Sett off from Plymouth 
with my Family for Penobscot in Capt. Jesse 
Churchill, the next Monday noon ye 9th Instant 
Mrs. Leonard on board, Francis sick. Chimney 
gone and hell to pay. Charles Kempton and 
myself went Immediately up river after Mr, 
Gorton and Returned that Night and in two 
Day he got the foundation up, hearth lay'd 

a. »» 

etc. 



The Settlers and their Homes. 125 

The days that followed were busy ones: the home 
land must be cleared, ploughed, and crops put in. 
Then the house must be completed and furnished. 
In reply to a letter from the anxious mother in Plym- 
outh, Mrs. Goodwin tells of their comforts and says 

" We have new merchants moved into the 
River. I can bye almost anything here that you 
can in Plymouth but at a much dearer rate." 
and again, " our Room is plastered and very 
warm, don't think there is one warmer in Penob- 
scot, there is but three or four Plastered in the 
Place." 

Other letters assured the mother of how the money 
Ccime in little by little and of the kindness of the 
young husband. From the colony various gifts would 
come — pepper, vinegar, a pot of butter, now and 
then a book, or perhaps a quilt for little Frank. 
Family cares had increased. The baby Francis now 
had brothers and when Dr. Goodwin went to Boston, 
together with his memorandum of official business, 
his wife would send one of family needs. 

" 7 yds Cotton & linen Cloth for children. 
Tow cloth for table and toweling. 
Castor oyle & Paragorick, 



126 An Old River Town. 

Shoes for Frank and Larra (Lazarus.) 
Narrow velvet for Frank's hat." 



The life of a doctor was not easy, as there were 
trips to Hampden, Prospect, thro the country and 
over the river, and to professional cares were added 
those of state. He became Justice of Peace and must 
make out deeds, settle disputes and perform mar- 
riages. He became Judge and must attend Court at 
Castine. He was chosen Representative to the gen- 
eral court at Boston and must go there once or twice 
a year. It was on one of these trips that he tells us 
he met his old friends. 

"July 4, 1795 Independent Day walked 
with the Representatives in procession attended 
by the Boston Independent Compy Artiely 
Compy and all the free masons to assist in Lay- 
ing the Corner Stone of the new State House the 
Governor made a very animated speech I sup- 
pose but I did not hear but three words they 
were very good and after the Ceremony was 
over I went to Concert Hall and Dined with our 
Brethren the Society of Cincinnatus had a very 
agreeable time was exceedingly gratified in see- 
ing my old Continental acquaintances." 



The Settlers and their Homes, 127 

Paul Revere assisted at this ceremony as Grand 
Master of the Masonic order and the governor men- 
tioned is Samuel Adams. It might be interesting to 
know some of the acquaintances vv^ho gathered at this 
dinner at the brick Inn on Hanover street at which 
had feasted Sons of Liberty, noted masons, and now 
this interesting assembly. 

Sometimes Mrs. Goodwin would accompany him, 
and go down to Plymouth for a visit. And to his 
diary he confides his loneliness. 

" Sept. 12 — 1 794 end of departure of wife 
for Plym. This night feel very dull. Wife 
gone, no children, not even Sanco, nothing but 
Catts & Crickets." 

.. 15 Sanco came home." 

. . 19 1 came home quite a lonesome 
house only the Catt & Kittens to be seen." 

" Nov. 2, 1 794 No wife come yet — been 
gone 7 weeks last Fryday — am quite tired of liv- 
ing alone. Ye Take care next time." 

Mrs. Goodwin's death occurred just after a return 
of Mr. Goodwin from Boston, 



128 An Old River Town. 

" to the inexpressible grief of all present but more 
particularly to myself," he says " who never ex- 
pect to repair the exceeding heavy bereavement 
of Providence. She was decently & Solemnly 
Buried near our house. Mr. Mudge here & 
preached a Funeral Sermon." 

If we go to the Goodwin farm to-day, we may fol- 
low a path of sweet fern, thro* a tangle of brakes, to 
a growth of young birches and oaks overlooking the 
river; and there, under a pine whose needles have 
half covered the stone we may dimly read this 
epitaph, 

** Sacred 

to the memory of 

Mrs. Jane P. Goodwin the 

virtuous Consort of 

Francis LeBaron 

Goodwin Esq 

Died July 29. 1801 

Aged 37 years." 

Francis Goodwin passed his last days in public 
service and came to his death in 1816 by being 
thrown from a horse. Four sons were born to them ; 
Francis LeBaron, bom Dec. 18, 1789; Chandler 



The Settlers and their Homes. 129 

Robbins, born Feb. 1 5, 1 792, and died in the West 
Indies July 2, 1817; Lazarus, born March 21,1 796 ; 
and William LeBaron, bom Apr. 22, 1 800. Fran- 
cis LeBaron Goodwin Jr. remained on the farm and 
followed his father in holding offices of trust in the 
town; he was a lieutenant in the state militia in 1822. 
His son. Chandler Robbins Goodwin was, too, an 
honored citizen. 

Francis LeBaron ; 
Lazarus LeBaron, — Lydia Bartlett 
Lydia LeBaron — Nathaniel Goodwin 
Francis LeBaron Goodwin — Jane Prince Robbins 
Francis " " Jr.— Hannah B. Dean 

Chandler Robbins Jr. — Coraline B. Dillingham. 
Delphina Francis Goodwin — Frank W. Haley 
Millie C. Haley, Charles M. Haley. 
Dr. Peabody remained but a few years and built 
and occupied the house known as the *' Robinson 
house,*' now owned by Mr. Daniel Moody. He 
moved to Levant and Doctor Abbott established him- 
self here. 

EDMUND LORD ABBOTT. 

"Nurtured in the lap of indulgence from early 
infancy by the tenderest, best of parents, parents 
whose every wish has centered in my happiness 
& every exertion has tendered to promote it — 



130 An Old River Town. 

to Berwick will I look as the pole star of my 
affection." 

Thus writes a young man who after long and care- 
ful deliberation has determined upon Frankfort as a 
good place in which to begin his life as a physician; 
he writes at the close of the first day of his practice; 
(May 24, 1804). This may account for the bit of 
longing and of homesickness which are evident. 

Edmund Abbott was the only child of Daniel 
Abbott and Abigail Lord of Berwick, Maine. He 
was a graduate of Harvard Medical School. 

From the early surroundings, of which he has given 
us an idea, it must have taken some courage to leave 
them, to make his own way in the world. 

Upon arriving at Frankfort, he found another 
young doctor ahead of him — Dr. Green : this was the 
cause of much worry, as the undertaking of a new 
case or the loss of an old one was of vital importance 
to each. 

The chief illness in the place was bilious fever : the 
common remedies were salts of myrrh, vinegar and 
indian meal poultices : " blooding " was often re- 
sorted to. A young practitioner's stock in trade con- 
sisted of a few books, and his vials of medicine could 
all be stored in saddlebags still in the attic at Abbott 
place. 

Doctor Abbott's journal for his first year contains 



The Settlers and their Homes. 131 

many pages, which show his anxiety about the ap- 
proval of one settler or another ; about whether or not 
Frankfort had been a wise choice. Then too the 
question of money troubled him; patients were slow 
to pay — and many did not pay at all. So he pieced 
out a living in various ways, buying hay, making out 
tax bills and even by teaching school. In making a 
decision about accepting the latter position he says, 
" I believe I must, altho I have a violent aversion to 
it." During the time which he did teach we find 
these conmients, 

" Considerably interrupted by my business,** 
" Mac complained that I was too late in the 
morning at school (patients). 

However, the sky cleared and money began to 
come in; he bought land. Then as he had become 
tired of boarding he decided to have a home; pur- 
chased a lot of Ephraim Grant, cleared away a few 
trees, got out lumber on the spot and put up a two- 
story house. As most of the houses at that time were 
one story, this high building was called the '* light- 
house." The southern half of the Abbot house, as 
it stands to-day was the original structure. 

He had accumulated enough so that marriage was 
possible. A Miss Alice Ware, a daughter of Dr. 
William Ware of Dighton, Massachusetts, visited 



132 An Old River Town. 

now and then her uncle, William Andrews. Doctor 
Abbott had met her and in 1 808 they were married. 
Altho the little bride could weave and embroider her 
own wedding gown, she was not versed in the gentle 
art of housekeeping. However the demands on a 
country doctor's wife were many, and necessity 
proved a good teacher. It was not long before she 
could manage toaster, bakers, skillets and brass ket- 
tles as deftly as she had plied the needle. And we 
can picture her as the inquisitive children gather 
around while she brushes the coals from the cover of 
the bake kettle; and they wonder what savory dish 
will come from its black interior — steaming baked 
beans, or bread or — the longed-for cookies. 

At nightfall when the pine logs lay across the 
andirons, she sits sewing, waiting for the return of her 
husband, who has been on a long ride thro the woods. 
Then she hears the sound of horse's hoofs coming 
nearer, and sees the dim light, thro the isinglass sides 
of the old square lantern. She meets him at the door 
with the candle of her own making. From the 
capacious saddle bags perhaps, he brings a gift — sent 
by some grateful patient. They talk over the calls 
and the patients, while she sits, with a foot on the 
little wooden cradle; a cradle now treasured at 
Abbott place, as it has rocked three generations. 
With it are stored there many of the old furnishings. 




A 



ll'etit/inj^ Go7cn ; Hand Wo7>en, Hand Embroidered, 
Hand Made 



The Settlers and their Homes. 133 

Doctor Abbott died in 1853, July 18, having 
practiced in Frankfort for fifty-one years. His son. 
Dr. Charles Abbott succeeded him here for thirty 
years. A grandson, Edmund Abbott, is now a prac- 
ticing physician in Providence, Rhode Island. 
Daniel Abbott — Abigail Lord 
Berwick, Me. Berwick 

Dr. Edmund Abbott — Alice Ware 

Frankfort, Me. Dighton, Mass. 

Dr. Charles Abbott — Harriet C. Newell Chick 

Winterport, Me. Winterport, Me. 

Dr. Edmund Abbott — Charlotte Moore 
Providence, R. I. Providence, R. I. 

SIMEON SABINE. 

A name which is probably unfamiliar, if not quite 
unknown to the younger generation, is that of Simeon 
Sabine, a resident of North Frankfort. 

Every teamster on his way from Bangor to Bel- 
fast, must in one place at least be kind to his horses; 
on the long hill which runs south from the Cove. A 
resting-place is invariably just above the little yellow 
house which nestles by the roadside and whose win- 
dows peer out at passers-by thro a hedge of lilacs. 

Not much of the owner's family history is pre- 
served, except that he was born in Attleborough, 
Massachusetts, Aug. 14, 1773. It was known that 



134 An Old River Town. 

he owned a plantation in the South which he visited 
now and then, and he was called by his northern 
friends a " niggerdriver " — slaveowner. 

Simeon Sabine was interesting to his neighbors be- 
cause they knew so little of his early life ; he was loved 
by them because — he was a " father to everybody " 
as one, who had received a kindness at his hand, has 
said. 

He had married Polly Billings of Sharon, Mass., 
and moved to the Cove where he built the little house. 
At the waterside near the bridge he built a store 
where he traded and kept the post office. 

The Sabines were followers of Universalism — in 
those days a hated belief — yet they attended the Or- 
thodox church in the village, and Mr. Sabine wrote 
for religious papers. In spite of creed he was con- 
sulted by all the country-side on personal matters and 
on business affairs. While many a sick one watched 
for the footsteps of the kind little white-turbaned 
woman who ministered to their needs ; or were glad- 
dened by gifts and messages dispensed by Mr. 
Sabine, who always said " This from the good 
woman.*' One man, now old, recalls how when his 
eleven brothers and sisters were ill with the measles, 
Mr. Sabine came up over the long hill and across the 
snow on hands and knees to bring them a bushel of 
crackers. 



The Settlers and their Homes. 135 

Mr. Sabine, with Benjamin Shaw and Genera! 
Jedediah Herrick, served on the County Commission. 
In the days of Square Shaw's prosperity, days of 
the Frankfort bank, there were teas and weddings; 
from letters which passed between the families we 
may judge that many social hours were spent together. 
" Should the weather be pleasant we shall 
expect you and Mr. Sabine with Miss Atwood 
to-morrow evening and hope you will not disap- 
point us. B. S." 

" The Marriage of my Daughter will take 
place this evening and we shall be much pleased 
to have you attend and shall expect you at Tea 
at six o'clock. 

" B S." 

'* Brother Sabine, 

I regret that circumstances render it inconvenient 
for me to partake to-morrow of that hospitality which 
always flows so spontaneously from your generous 
noble soul. I shall be with you soon and will en- 
deavor to attend meeting with you probably Sabbath 
after next. B. S. 

Please say to the Gen'l should you see him that I will 
be up about the trees." 

The old white horse, which bore the dignified and 
stately general thro the country on his trips as sur- 



136 An Old River Town. 

veyor or commissioner, often might be seen tethered 
at the Sabine door. General Herrick's daughter and 
Mrs. Sabine were friends and exchanged frequent 
visits when the latter could be persuaded to spend a 
day at the fine old mansion at Hampden corner. The 
manner of their intercourse may be learned from this 
letter: 

*' My dear Friend 

You will perceive that I am improving for here- 
with you receive the last papers you lent me before 
they are actually worn out or become ruined by long 
possession. I agree with you ' Mrs. Trollop has 
written many books * but she has not written like a 
Lady. After these refreshing dewes shall have passed 
will you not be tempted to come and spend a day 
with us. We all want to see you & can*t you be 
content to leave your quiet and elegant home for one 
day. I expect to have some interesting books soon 
and shall send you whatever I know to be worth your 
perusal. I am ashamed to be always reminding you 
of my carelessness but I left a pocket handkerchief 
at your house, I think upon the table in the dining 
room, which if you have noticed will you give to 
father. 

With sentiments of unfeigned Love & Respect 
Your & Mr. Sabine*s most humble 

Friend Clara C. Herrick." 




A Quiet and Elegant Home hi iHsg 



The Settlers and their Homes. 137 

Mr. and Mrs. Sabine had no children, but adopted 
a daughter who took the name, Elmira Billings 
Sabine, She later married Aaron Holbrook of 
Hampden. In letters to a sister, this daughter has 
left us two pictures of her parents. 

" I wish you could have known her. She has been 
to me a kind and indulgent mother and most sincerely 
do I lament the loss of her to whom I have hitherto 
looked up for counsel and guidance." 

" I am happily situated here — my adopted father, 
Mr. Sabin is one of the best of men & I cannot be 
sufficiently thankful for his kindness and the indul- 
gence with which he treats me. If were his own 
daughter he could treat me no better & I trust that 
he will long live to be a father & protector for me." 

Mr. Sabine had been considered wealthy, and 
years after his death, part of the cellar wall was torn 
out as it was rumored that gold was buried there. 
When he died in 1 839, he left a will, but a seal and 
signature were lacking which made it necessary to 
dispose of his household effects at auction. Thus 
some of the family silver, bearing the initials S. P. S. 
(Simeon and Polly Sabine), is treasured in a few 
homes in the town to-day. 

After three score years have passed ; his reputation 
— an honest man, always good, always charitable — 
still lives. 



THE SETTLERS AND THEIR HOMES. 

(Continued.) 

One visiting old Frankfort in the early part of the 
last century might easily fancy himself in an English 
shire town, so often would he hear the title of Esquire. 
But already the New England dialect was develop- 
ing, and " Square " Merrill, " Square " Jones and 
** Square " Shaw were familiar appellations. Any 
Justice of Peace or lav^er was addressed thus; and 
there were certainly enough of the latter to keep peo- 
ple either in trouble or out of it. John Pike, Philo 
Washburn and Albert Kelly were early lawyers. 

SAMUEL MERRILL. 

Do you remember some April day when the snow 
is just beginning to leave the hills and you have gone 
thro the cemetery and into the ravine back of it? 
You made your way around the " muck hole," across 
the brook and climbed the opposite hill, and there 
uncovered hidden treasures — the trailing arbutus or 
May flowers in Merrill's woods? Then your way 

138 



The Settlers and their Homes. 139 

home led thro the field behind the big house where 
you were treated to a ride on the back of the blind 
pony which belonged to the Merrill boys. 

In early fall, the shortest way home from school 
was always through their large orchard, whence you 
emerged with pockets full of Martha stripes or sweet 
russets. 

Samuel Merrill, the original owner of this farm, 
was born in 1 111 . He came to Frankfort from Con- 
way, New Hampshire. The land he bought from 
Mr. Oakman and cut the timbers for the house right 
where it stands. 

Mr. Merrill had a store on the old brick school 
house lot; was prominent in religious affairs; was 
clerk of a society which was known as the North 
West Union Society. He was also Justice of Peace. 

His death occurred January 1 , 1 852, and the farm 
passed to a son. Chandler Merrill. It is now the 
home of Albert Merrill, a grandson. 

ARCHIBALD JONES. 

Altho there is no one here to perpetuate the Jones 
name, yet the family influence is felt among us. Our 
post-office building which was finished and first occu- 
pied in 1 823 was for years the family residence. In 
those days there were green blinds on the house, and 
over the front door was a latticed frame with seats at 



140 An Old River Town. 

either side, while over the frame ran woodbine and 
honeysuckle. From this door to the street there was 
a path bordered with old-fashioned flowers. By the 
roadside and along the garden fence stood a row of 
rock maple trees. The north side of the house was 
also shaded by maples. 

Behind the house was a dense growth of ever- 
greens, brought by the children of the family from the 
nearest forest and planted. TTie trees grew up with 
the children and soon became much higher than the 
house, making a beautiful background for it as seen 
in passing on the river. On the south side of the lot 
was the fruit and vegetable garden. 

Archibald Jones, " Counsellor at Law," was born 
in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1 777 and died at 
Frankfort, February 9, 1858. He had come to 
Penobscot in 1 802 at about the same time that Mr. 
Oakman, Dr. Abbott and Benjamin Thompson 
came. Thinking that he saw in its position, at the 
head of winter navigation, the possibility of a chief 
city on the river, he chose to settle in Frankfort. He 
was admitted to court at Portland in 1806; became 
attorney for the heirs of the Waldo Patent, as they 
owned land in this and surrounding counties. He 
also became active in town affairs. 

Mr. Jones was a most upright man, of fine mind 
and a deep student of all religions. 



The Settlers and their Homes. 141 

His marriage was in 1811 to Miss Sally Wood- 
man of New Hampshire. From this union were four 
children who lived to adult age; Catharine died in 
1851, aged 37 years; Sara Maria became the wife 
of Upton Treat of Frankfort. Erasmus Archibald 
Jones was a man of fine education and abilities. He 
taught school and music and led the choir in the 
church on the hill from his earliest manhood. With 
the assistance of his father and Tisdale Dean and 
others he wrote a short history of his native town. 
He died in 1852 aged 31. Elmira, the widow of 
Ezra Treat, the only survivor of the family lives in 
Stillwater, Minnesota. 

ALBERT LIVINGSTON KELLY. 

Albert Livingston Kelly, or as he was better 
known, to us, Elsquire Kelly was bom in the town of 
Bristol, New Hampshire, August 17, 1802, in the 
Fiske house. 

In 1 743 a coat of arms had been granted to the 
Honorable Robert Kelly of Doncaster, England. In 
southwestern England was a small parish of Kelly 
where a family of the name had lived for years on 
their manorial estate, even since the time of Henry II. 
Among the first of the name to come to New Eng- 
land was one, John Kelly, who settled in Newbury, 
Massachusetts in 1635. 



142 An Old River Town. 

The father of our townsman was Israel Webster 
Kelly of Goffstown, New Hampshire, who at the 
age of 1 9 held a commission under Alexander Hamil- 
ton in the Oxford War. Hamilton was on good 
terms with his officers, messed with them, and we are 
told that from this intercourse the young lieutenant 
became an " accomplished gentleman." In his later 
years he became a judge. 

The mother of Albert Kelly was Rebecca Fletcher 
who was a daughter of the Reverend Elijah Fletcher. 
She was a woman of brilliant intellect. Her sister, 
Grace, became the wife of Daniel Webster. It was 
while she was visiting her sister, Mrs. Webster, in 
Salisbury that Mr. Kelly met her, and they were 
married at the Kelly home. 

Often distinguished men met at this house, Eziekel 
Webster, Judge Richard Fletcher and others. Thus 
as a young man, Albert Kelly felt indirectly the per- 
sonal charm of Hamilton, and later came in close 
contact with the master mind of Webster. And he 
was not less fortunate in his surroundings in later years. 

He was sent to fitting school at Atkinson Acad- 
emy, from which, at 15, he entered Dartmouth. 
From there he graduated in 1 82 1 ; he had become 
proficient in Greek and held high rank, as a scholar. 

He next went to Portland, Maine, where for three 
years he read law with the Honorable Stephen Long- 



The Settlers and their Homes. 143 

fellow and resided in his family, so that he knew the 
poet and his brothers. He always enjoyed referring 
to the life of those years, and to his acquaintance with 
this interesting family. 

The year 1825 was important in his life; he was 
admitted to the Cumberland bar; he was chosen to 
deliver the fourth of July address at Portland, quite 
an honor for a man of 23 ; and he was appointed as 
agent in Frankfort to look after the claims of the Ten 
Proprietors' Grant. 

It was thro Daniel Webster's influence that he re- 
ceived this appointment. It is said that when Mr. 
Webster recommended the young lawyer, he said, 
** I can't vouch for his experience but I can for his 
honesty and integrity." 

As a lawyer here, he followed Philo Washburn, 
performed his duties as agent and became authority 
on all land and real estate laws — so that his counsel 
was widely sought. Then, too, he was interested in 
politics. 

He married Caroline Pelrce, a daughter of Waldo 
Peirce of the Marsh, in 1829. Nine children were 
born to them. It is an interesting fact that, as a 
young man, Mr. Kelly boarded at the Cox Tavern, 
kept by John Pike — the same house which is now the 
Kelly homestead; two sons, Frank and Silas, still 
occupy the old home. Its furniture, books and fur- 



144 An Old River Town. 

nishings speak of early associations and of the taste of 
its owners. One son, Fitzroy Kelly, lives in Boston. 
During Mr. Kelly's later years, Alexander Long- 
fellow was often entertained by him. Daniel Web- 
ster, when on his Maine tour in 1 835, was his guest 
for a few days; and to-day a portrait of the great 
statesman greets us in the front hall of the home. 

THE NAME OF THOMPSON. 

A stranger to our village, on hearing this name, 
might at once think of the Benjamin Thompson of 
Massachusetts who figures in history as Count Rum- 
ford, who had become a tory in the Revolution ; had 
gone within the British lines and was eventually sent 
to England by Lord Howe with important di- 
spatches. However, his cleverness in later years, and 
his good to the world in general, overshadow this act 
and we forgive his turning to the enemy. We follow 
him to Bavaria where he became a powerful influ- 
ence in military affairs. In Munich in 1 790 he was 
knighted Count of the Holy Roman Empire and 
chose for his title the name of a New Hampshire 
town, Rumford, his early residence. He traveled on 
the continent, was interested in philosophical as well 
as political affairs, on which he wrote. He finally 
settled in Paris where his death occurred. He had 



The Settlers and their Homes. 145 

been a member of the Royal Society of London and 
to it left prizes to be awarded for discoveries in light 
and heat. A chair at Harvard College know^n as 
the Rumford professorship was endowed by him: 
and in the city of Munich his statue adorns a public 
square. 

It is not strange that we are interested in his life, 
for one of our first settlers was a cousin of his and bore 
the same name. 

Our Benjamin Thompson — this branch of the 
family never bears a middle name — the son of Hiram 
Thompson, was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, 
November 15, 1 774, in the Rumford house which is 
still standing in the north village. 

As a young man he was a great reader, was fond 
of study and received some of his education with the 
future Count Rumford. He attended the old acad- 
emy at Charlestown, and studied civil engineering. 
It was thro this subject that his attention was attracted 
to this distant plantation; he came here, assisted in 
laying out the town, traded in wood and bark, and 
finally settled. The house now owned by Ernest 
Damon was built by Mr. Thompson, and in 1 800 he 
married Olive Oakman, a daughter of Tobias and 
Olive Oakman. 

Mr. Oakman was a settler from Mansfield, Massa- 
chusetts who had put up a log hut on the site of the 



146 An Old River Town. 

Tobias Thompson house. The old well under that 
house now is fed by the same spring which induced 
Mr. Oakman later to build a frame dwelling on the 
same spot. 

Ten children were born to them at the little house 
in the lane. A younger daughter, Maria, was born 
in 1818. In 1840 she married Otis Kaler. Her 
son, James Otis Kaler is well known as a writer of 
boys' books under the name of James Otis. For a 
time he dwelt at the head of Kaler Street, but is now 
a resident of South Portland and is interested in 
schools as well as in letters. Some of the incidents of 
his stories took place in Frankfort and perhaps some 
of his characters are drawn from the lives of villagers. 

Grandfather Thompson taught school here and 
" Marster Thompson " could wield other rods than 
the surveyor's. 

Benjamin Thompson also served the town for 
many years as clerk, and when the British landed here 
in 1812 they paid his home a visit — not a pleasant 
one either, for they demanded the town papers of 
him. Upon refusing to give them up he was taken as 
prisoner to Castine. 

There he was treated kindly so far as bodily com- 
forts were concerned, but every means of speech was 
employed to force a surrender of the papers. He 
afterwards declared that he " could bear their insults 



The Settlers and their Homes. 147 

far better than the thought that all the land between 
Castine and Bangor should fall into the hands of His 
Majesty." So he was detained there a prisoner of 
war for ten days, while his wife knew not whether 
he would be returned home or taken to the old 
country. 

Of his sons, five were sea-faring men ; two or three 
were masters of vessels and all but one of them were 
lost at sea. 

There is a story still told of the son, William's first 
investment in vessel property. A Mr. Coburn and 
William Thompson bought an " old tub," the Jonas 
Hale. They took her to Treat's Mountain, loaded 
her with stone and when ready to sail had not decided 
upon who should be captain. So they drew straws 
and the office fell to Mr. Coburn. Then they got 
into an argument about which should remain aboard 
while the other went up town. But the newly chosen 
master settled it in short order. " I am captain and 
you are mate so you must stay," he said to young 
Thompson. After settling the balance of power, they 
finally set out for sea, but just off Drachm Point the 
craft sank and thus proved a profitless adventure. 

Captain Thompson later commanded many large 
crafts; in the Compeer he went on voyages to Cal- 
cutta. Of this trip the log book says, " Jan 8, 1 862 
Thus we made the passage in 1 44 days from Boston 



148 An Old River Town. 

Pilot to pilot in Calcutta, 33 souls in all on board," 
In the Amazon he went to Havana. His last voyage 
was in the Samuel Larrabee and the fate of the ship 
and her crew was never known. 

A son of this Captain William Thompson was 
born in 1834 and was given the Rumford name, 
Benjamin Thompson. 

He never sailed from this port, but this was his 
birthplace, and to it he came to spend the declining 
years of his life. 

At an early age he began to go to sea; after his 
marriage to Miss Arabella Dunham, a daughter of 
George Dunham, the owner of uptown shipyards, 
his wife accompanied him on many long voyages, 
for he was a deep sea sailor. 

The Progressive Age, a brig, was his first com- 
mand, when he took her at Macao, China, to sail 
home. 

An oil painting of one of the fast clippers, fa- 
mous in the '50s, hangs in the dining-room at the 
Thompson home near Meeting House Hill. This 
is the Sportsman, " Captain Ben's " second vessel. 
Even in the picture she is going right along. The 
first voyage was to Buenos Ay res, the first year of 
the rebellion, and the return voyage proved very 
exciting. One morning just at daybreak, the mate 
reported a strange acting vessel in the distance. The 



The Settlers and their Homes. 149 

captain went on deck. As the craft came nearer 
and nearer, it became evident that a privateer w^as 
on their track, — (war had been declared after they 
left that point, homeward bound). Realizing the 
possibility of capture, the captain sat right beside the 
wheelman to take advantage of wind and tide. Mrs. 
Thompson had secured the watches and valuables 
below and wanted the captain to go below, but he 
said: "No, my place is here." Winds, however, 
favored the Yankee vessel and she escaped. After 
their arrival in New York they learned of other crafts 
which had been chased and taken by the stranger. 

This same Sportsman, was immediately chartered 
by our government and went to southern waters as 
a supply ship. The following letter, a testimonial 
to the young captain's service, is prized by Mrs. 
Thompson. It is framed and above it on the wall 
hangs the picture of its writer. 

" Flagship Hartford 
Western Gulf Blockading Squadron 
Off Pensacola, Apr. 29. 1864 

" Sir : Capt. Thompson commanded the ship 
Sportsman an ordnance store ship in my squadron, 
for upwards of two years and it gives me pleasure 
to say that he was always prompt in getting his ves- 
sel from place to place as required, kept her in good 



150 An Old River Town. 

order, and was at all times ready to supply the wants 
of the squadron. 

" Captain Thompson is a seaman & a gentleman 
and would no doubt make a good Volunteer offi- 
cer in the Navy. Should it be his wish to enter 
the service as such, I would cheerfully recommend 
him to the favorable consideration of the Depart- 
ment. 

Very respectfully 

Your obedient servant 

D. G. Farragut, Rear Admiral " 
" Hon Gideon Welles 

Secretary of the Navy 
Washington, D. C." 

After the war Captain Thompson was master of 
other vessels and took many interesting voyages be- 
fore his last Command, The Great Admiral. James 
Otis has made him the hero of The Boy Captains. 
Mrs. Thompson was a good sailor, too ; she has been 
around the world three times; around the Cape of 
Good Hope six times; around Cape Horn fifteen 
times, once passing thro the Straits of LaMar. In 
her journal, she writes, 

" Pacific Ocean Great Admiral 1 876 Jan. 6 
Ship going 10 knots; 58 days & just off Cape 



The Settlers and their Homes. 151 

Horn, 1 1 000 miles from home. The days are 
long. Last night the sun set 15 minutes of 9 
and rose at 3 this morning — twilight lasting all 
night." 

On one voyage to Hong Kong, two ships were 
sailing along together. They ran into a typhoon, so 
tacked in different directions. One vessel was never 
heard from. But Captain Thompson was fortunate 
enough to reach port, with the sails of his ship blown 
into ribbons, altho he had bound them to the masts 
as he approached the storm. One poor sailor went 
crazy from fright in the experience. Mrs. Thomp*- 
son also has a painting of this bark, as she entered 
the harbor from her perilous voyage. 

Captain Thompson was considered " one of the 
safest and most experienced captains afloat," and in 
1873 was put in command of the Great Admiral. 
This ship was built in East Boston for the Weld 
fleet. She was named for Farragut and carried a 
full length figure of the hero, under her bowsprit. 
The craft is now seen only in Pacific waters, and 
since in a few years no vessels of her kind will be 
seen, a picture of her is interesting. 

"The Admiral is 1576 ton burden, 214 feet 
length of keel, 226 feet over all, 40 feet 6 inch beam 
and 20 feet 6 inch depth of hold. Her after cabin 



152 An Old River Town. 

is finished in mahogany, rosewood and satinwood 
paneling, picked in with gilt cind is upholstered in 
wine-colored plush. On the port side of the cabin 
is a medicine store and adjoining this is the linen 
locker. On the larboard side are staterooms, book 
locker, and bath-room, the latter fitted up with all 
necessary conveniences and finished in black walnut. 
Aft the cabin are the captain's private apartments. 
Forw^ard on the larboard side stand the staterooms, 
and the officers' quarters opening from the dining- 
room. The galley is one of the most convenient and 
roomy ever placed upon a sailing ship and her carpen- 
ter shop contains all the appliances and tools necessary 
for such work as may be needed on the voyage. 
Fresh water is obtained by means of a condenser 
capable of supplying fifty gallons per hour. The 
engine used for the purpose also gives motive power 
for hoisting the sails and raising anchors. In short, 
the entire equipment of the vessel, combined with 
her great strength, render her in the opinion of navi- 
gators, one of the safest crafts afloat." 

From the Philadelphia " North American.** 

She made several quick passages, one from Hong 
Kong to Liverpool in 34 days. 

Captain Thompson's last days were spent in re- 
tirement at Winterport, except for occasional visits 
to Boston. There he was always welcomed by his 



The Settlers and their Homes. 153 

old friends as " The Commodore." He had been 
a good sailor, good to his sailors, a good business 
man and a smart captain. He was always an in- 
teresting and entertaining companion, and the passing 
of this gentleman of the old school was with deep 
regret to his many friends. 



OLD FURNITURE— TEA TABLES AND 
THEIR APPOINTMENTS. 

Many collectors of antiques would consider them- 
selves fortunate if they could get some of the inter- 
esting pieces of furniture which have outlived their 
original owners or surroundings in Winterport, stored 
in some attic, shed or barn ; or surviving in some long 
closed house. A good old table may be in use, in 
kitchen or milkroom and seem to be of little value; 
but, if the owner is asked to part with it for money, 
the true value is very quickly revealed. Some bit of 
history or sentiment attached to this or that article 
makes it priceless and the collector departs empty 
handed. Thus the housewife saves money in her 
own way and is satisfied. 

There are bureaus and chests of drawers of end- 
less variety. The most common bureau is the one 
known as " heavy style *' which has two twisted 
posts, each surmounted by a carved pineapple, on 

154 



Old Furniture. 155 

either side of the drawers. The front finish is a 
veneer. A few slant top bureau desks are still in 
use, some as they were first made, and some restored, 
with brass finishings. 

Many four-poster beds have been consigned to 
wood piles or have served as kindling ; but now and 
then one is found in an attic, " saved to be done over 
and used sometime." Relics of one bridal dowry, 
sent from Massachusetts, an Eastlake bureau and a 
canopy top four-poster of pineapple design with an 
additional elaborate carving of weeping willow, are 
still kept. 

In one home, a field bed is in use — dressed in 
keeping with its age. These beds have a top which 
suggests the shape of a tent, hence the name. Cords 
take the place of modern springs and help to hold 
its mahogany frame together. Home made sheets 
cover the feather ticks ; hand woven blankets are over 
these. A pink " comforter " backed with quilted 
linen gives additional warmth; and over all is a blue 
and red chintz coverlid, with squares cut from the 
comers to make it fit around the large posts. The 
coverlid is made from the original hangings of the 
bed. 

There are many different kinds of candle tables; 
one, a small square top was supported on four 
slender legs; another, with the same kind of top was 



156 An Old River Town. 

held on a single rod which crowned four curved 
legs; and still another, with four curved legs, had 
an arrangement so that its top might be turned up, 
thus becoming an ornament. The passing of the 
candle has given these over to various purposes now; 
one may hold a glass of tissue paper flowers, or be 
covered with flower pots; another may be gilded 
or given a coat of white paint. Whether they came 
from over the water or from the hand of a local 
cabinet maker, yet few remain as they were first 
made. 

Square sewing tables, whose leaves hug two small 
drawers, have neat little compartments to accommo- 
date needles, thread and sewing material. 

The card tables are of peculiar make; round 
when extended and semi-circular when folded ; when 
not in use for their destined purpose they graced the 
best room, placed so that one leaf rested against the 
wall, while on the other leaf, supported by the legs, 
were knicknacks; a glass lamp surmounting a brass 
rod which was fastened into a base — a succession 
of onyx blocks; a card receiver of pieces of card- 
board, silk bound, which were worked in cross 
stitch; and a small case of wax flowers. 

Larger tables seem not to have shared the humi- 
liating fate of their kindred, the candle-stand; but 
have been promoted to places of honor. Now, too 




A ''Four Poster 
( Still ill use) 



Old Furniture. 157 

good for a dining-room, for which they were in- 
tended, they occupy living-room, sitting-room, parlor, 
or even the front entry. They are of every shape and 
pattern ; square, oblong or round ; their corners, square 
or rounded; the feet, claw or club; legs, spindle or 
cabriole; all the styles of which you read are found 
here. 

One former kitchen table occupies the comer of 
a front hall. In its early days it lived in Plymouth 
in the home of a Calvin preacher. No doubt many 
knotty questions were discussed over its leaves, by 
noted divines of that day; and the descendants of 
John Alden, with colonial officials dined from it. 

Another, so proud of its shining top that only a 
card receiver rests on its polished surface, greets you 
on entering a front door. This is " Grandmother 
Avery's." When the British took possession of 
Castine, the officers made themselves at home and 
used the Avery family silver and china. Each 
daughter of this family became the possessor of what 
she called a British cup and saucer. The cups are 
odd looking ones — coffee cups large like a bowl, of 
dark blue ware, covered with a shell and deep sea 
tangle pattern, and around the top a narrow yellow 
band. 

But the family china, which survived the war and 
the English occupation, according to the early cus- 



158 An Old River Town. 

torn, has passed to the oldest daughter's descendants; 
and is now owned by Mrs. Harriet Abbott, grand- 
daughter of Captain Thatcher and Hannah Atkins 
Avery of North Castine, who ordered it from Liver- 
pool before 1812 thro a Captain Higgins. 

There is a sugar bowl, tea or water pot and 
creamer; but there are no plates as pewter ones were 
used. 

The ware is white and very thin; the small bowl 
shaped cups are without handles ; the saucers are very 
deep. They have a bold decoration; a large red 
rose set in green foliage, across whose leaves is a dash 
of red. A black line edged with a purple beading 
forms a border. Above the pattern is the large 
monogram — in black — ^T H A (Thatcher and 
Hannah Avery.) 

A good housewife always cared for her own china, 
washing it with her own hands, in a wooden tub or 
keeler, used only for the china. So this set is still 
complete. When any of the younger generation 
visit at Abbott place, they are always served to a cup 
of tea from this choice ware. 

As the friends of Mrs Abbott have called on her 
in later years, they have been quite sure to find her 
in the brown south room, comfortably seated in a 
big willow chair, book in hand, in front of Grand- 
mother Avery's picture. This is a painting copied 



Old Furniture. 159 

from a portrait on glass, done by Mr. Greenleaf 
about 1815 or 1820. 

As a child I was always awed by the picture and 
wondered if the person were man or woman, and I 
always expected the strong face to turn and look at 
me, so pleasant seemed the eyes. The dark dress, 
covered at the neck by a white kerchief seemed like 
man's attire. The dark hair just showing beneath a 
little net cap, dotted with clovers, proclaims the 
young matron; for, after the English fashion, as soon 
as our maids became wives they donned the cap in 
token of their honor. Pleasant indeed it must have 
been to share her hospitality and ready wit of which 
her daughters inherited such a goodly share. 

One table which is now a parlor center table, came 
from an Oak Point home. It bears on its top a 
depression made by a bullet which was sent from a 
British musket thro the window, and glanced across 
the table, but left the family unharmed. 

" Shouldn't wonder a mite if 'twas a hundred. 

'* It's been in the house ever since I can remember. 

" Folks you know couldn't keep house in them 
days without a set of chiny. 

** Think sometime when I'm smart I'll get some old 
ladies to take tea with me and use the old chiny." 



160 An Old River Town. 

Thus explained an old lady of seventy-seven as 
she shook her white curls and bustled about, opened 
the sitting-room closet door and took from the top 
shelf " mother's tea set." Of its pieces, — a dozen 
cups and saucers, a sugar bowl, creamer, water pot, 
bowl and two cake plates — but one has ever been 
broken. That is the handle of the sugar bowl, and 
that is saved. 

The ware is pure white decorated in lilac colored 
design, a bunch of peaches and their foliage 
alternating with a bunch of roses. 

For the best china the best table was used tho 
really a card table of mahogany. The edge is in- 
laid with a strip of bird's eye maple marked on either 
side with a line ebony thread. Now it is over a 
hundred years old, is not marred and has never been 
re-polished. 

" I can remember when I was a little bit of a girl," 
she added. *' My mother set it for company for tea 
and set it with the old chiny. O no! I didn't sit 
down, there wasn't room for us children. Children 
had to wait in them days." 

There is in the town one dining-room of real old 
style, every detail preserved without the introduction 
of modern ideas. Enter it from the front room and 
the first thing you will notice is the two foot high 
mantel over its huge black fireplace. The room is 



1 


f 


m 


!«; 1 1 




r 


1 




^- f 












li 




1 

i 
1 

1 






•■■■ 1 ' 

r f i 




i 


/« 


ll 




1 




Motht-rs Tea Set and the Best Table 



Old Furniture. 161 

painted an old, old soft gray, the yard-high hand- 
finished wainscoting and the woodwork of its many 
doors; for from it you may go to porch, kitchen, bed- 
room, front room, closet, front hall, attic and store- 
room. 

The long table still stands in front of the fire- 
place spread to its greatest extent just as it stood 
when the owner entertained there the selectmen of 
the town; or when the big family were all at home 
and each of the five girls had her own work to do 
and it was no " put out " to have seventeen walk in 
to dinner unannounced. 

As you depart thro the covered porch you are 
offered a drink from the well over which the house 
is built, and then passing thro the vine covered door 
you pass from an old world into the new. 



HOUSE FURNISHINGS AND FIRESIDES. 

TTie earliest houses were naturally of the style 
most easily built and of materials most easily ob- 
tained; therefore, the first home of a white settler, 
here as elsewhere in the colonies was the log hut, for 
which tree trunks were stripped and piled up to form 
a shelter. These did for home until the surrounding 
land could be cleared a little, and then a more sub- 
stantial dwelling was erected. Some went up the 
river to Wheeler's Mills for lumber; some down to 
Marsh Mills, rafting the materials to this place ; while 
some cut and finished the lumber on their own 
claims. 

These first frame dwellings were the low story and 
a half cottage; patterned after the old Plymouth 
style — many of which may be seen to-day in Mas- 
sachusetts or Connecticut towns. These, with low 
gently sloping roof, resembled " bird houses," set 
with the longest side toward the river. 

162 



House Furnishings and Firesides. 163 

Many of the first houses have reached the hundred 
year mark and have survived the ravages of time — 
because they were built of strong material and finished 
as needed, slow^ly: the building of the old Goodwin 
home, already referred to, shows how slowly. 

Often the living-room and bedroom were the only 
ones finished for years — the chambers left unfinished 
or " open " until the increase in size of family and 
wherewithal saved by hard labor, demanded, and 
allowed the luxury of lath and plaster. 

The location of the old houses shows the path of 
settlement from one end of the plantation to the 
other; from the home of Moses Baker above Cove 
Hill to the Blaisdell house at the southern end. 

At the top of Sabine Hill and a little to the east 
of the present main road, set the log cabin of Paul 
Downs. He was a lumberman, owned some oxen 
and by wood hauling, and plowing for his neighbors, 
was soon able to supplant this cabin by a frame house 
which stood just in front of the little black weather- 
beaten cottage now occupied by his grandson, 
Benjamin Nichols. 

From there the main thoroughfare ran to Oak 
Point, passed the Stubbs homestead, which was taken 
down, only a few years ago; and along to the high 
point where stood the Daten house, which was as- 



164 An Old River Town. 

sociated with the Kempton name. This commanded 
an unobstructed view up and down the river. 

On a side hill set Nehemiah Rich's house. From 
its windows the inmates could look out across Kemp- 
ton's Cove and daily at low tide they could see the 
wreck of the flagship Warren as she washed to pieces 
on the flats. This house in after years was moved 
on to the main road, north of the Hacket woods. It 
was then owned by William Page and is still stand- 
ing, tho completely hidden by lilac bushes and 
woodbine. 

Simeon Kenney when he stopped teaching school 
in the village, to become a farmer, chose the next 
eminence to the south of the Richs' as his home. 
This building is still in good condition and is known 
as the *' Ford house." 

The " Old Goodwin house," *' Lombard house " 
and " Norton house " stood not far apart to the 
south: the two latter are still standing. 

The road continued past the Tommy Johnston 
house in a direct line across the Thompson land. 
A grandchild of Mr. Thompson remembers the old 
farmhouse before any improvements were made on 
it: when it had a big fireplace, the great crane with 
pots and kettles hanging on it. 

The Blaisdell house, the oldest in town, is kept in 
nearly every particular as it used to be. 



House Furnishings and Firesides. 165 

Tho many of these structures were unpainted, yet 
Nature did her work well and to-day some wear 
the silver gray coats which are only made by time 
and weather. A few were coated with whitewash 
and one or two perhaps boasted of paint but for 
ornamentation they depended mostly upon the plots 
of gay flowers by the door — perhaps peonies from 
a Plymouth garden, or a brier rose from the cape. 

Many public houses were scattered thro the 
country, built on the same plan as dwelling houses 
but much larger. 

The homes which the settlers provided for their 
animals were much more pretentious than their own 
shelter. The barns were often twice the size of the 
houses and the " barn raising " was as important a 
social event as that of the house: neighbors from all 
about the country attended: often the frame was set 
up at noon, thus allowing the morning for the gather- 
ing of friends and the afternoon for festivities and 
visiting. 

A shed attached to the house sometimes formed 
a passageway to the big barn back of it. Here was 
the home of the winter's wood, the storehouse for 
farm tools, and the indispensable iron kettle: and on 
the rafters were hung the shad and smelt nets, after 
the season's work was done. 

If we are invited to enter these houses by the front 



166 An Old River Town. 

door, we find ourselves in an entry — small and 
square — a veritable box. From it open doors into 
the north and south rooms, the fourth side often lead- 
ing to a closet. The back stairs answered all the 
purposes of the family and generally led from the 
pantry or milk-room to the upper floor — to open 
chambers and the boys' bedrooms. 

One house, built in 1 79 1 , had no lathed bedroom 
for eight years. The room was then plastered im- 
mediately, three days being needed for the job. 
Surely improvements were appreciated in those days. 

The south room was finished first, and used as 
a " keeping room " or " living room,** unless the 
kitchen in the rear of the house was used for family 
gatherings. 

There was a generous supply of closets: always 
a large clothes press: a china closet, which in thrifty 
families was supplied with glass doors: all sorts and 
sizes of closets about the mantel and fireplace: 
mysterious and surprise closets within closets, for 
medicine, for linen, for eatables and we know not 
what else. Access to these was gained by turning 
a little brass button, which revolved on a brass plate 
set in the woodwork of the door frame. A brass 
knob on the door served for ornament. 

The larger doors were fitted with various kinds of 
handles and latches, brass, iron, pewter, or wooden: 



House Furnishings and Firesides. 167 

the hinges were often hand cut and of styles best liked 
by the owners. In one house alone, I saw seven 
different patterns of latches, and one latchstring. 

The interior woodwork was more elaborate than 
you would expect, knowing that it was all done by 
hand. Ornaments used were finely grooved lines, 
square blocks with carved edges, tiny blocks used as 
beading, and some scroll work. When larger houses 
were built large hallways were introduced and with 
them the need of elaborate decoration of doorways, 
stairways and wainscoting. 

The Dunton house or old Chick house was 
originally a hip-roofed house and still has the large 
front hall. On either side of the front door are side 
lights — and over it is a fan-shaped window which 
lights up the ten foot wide hall, which once ran 
directly thro the house. The combined height of 
upper and lower hall is about twenty feet. At the 
left, a short flight of steps leads to a landing — and 
turning, you go to the upper hall by a second flight. 
A copy of the original paper covers the wall, — gray 
brown mottled paper, in imitation of large oblong 
granite blocks. 

But the woodwork merits close attention. Along 
the sides of the hall and up the wall beside the steps 
is a wainscoting, a couple of feet high. Along its 
base is a narrow baseboard. Its top is finished with 



168 An Old River Town. 

a molding formed of long horizontal strips of wood 
between which are set at intervals, three vertical 
blocks (three inches wide). These are painted red 
and form a beading. The same finish is used near 
the ceiling in place of a paper border. At the outer 
edge of the stairs is a molding and the end of each 
step is fitted with a double scroll of wood. The 
newel post and banister are of plain dark wood. 

Perhaps the most artistic stairway in town is the 
one whose graceful curves speak for themselves in the 
picture. It is a winding stairway, a baluster for each 
step and each step extending out a little over the 
lower one. 

At the Tobias Thompson house the straight stair- 
way is guarded by a severely plain balustrade and 
newel posts. These are made from ironwood which 

Captain Tobias " brought from Russia. 

When the luxury of plaster became more com- 
mon, the next need was a wall covering or decora- 
tion: and as many captains went abroad many of 
the first wallpapers came from foreign countries. Of 
course only the well-to-do people could have them. 
Three hallways in town for years were covered with 
paper like the picture ; the bridge and the tower were 
brown ; the water, green. A roll of this paper, paste 
and all, as it was removed from the wall of the 
Thompson house to give place to a newer style, is 




i^N 



\ 




A iratf/ing' Stairivay 



House Furnishings and Firesides. 169 

stowed in the attic. In the north room of the same 
house was a paper of large figure — a man crossing a 
bridge. During an illness, Captain Thompson oc- 
cupied that room and he ordered the paper removed, 
** For," he said, " I can't rest till that paper is re- 
moved; it makes me so tired to see that man keep 
goin' across that bridge." 

Fifty years ago, the Lathly Rich house had one 
room papered with this leaf paper. The leaves are 
a foot and a half long, are cream edged with gold 
against a green velvety background. It was bought 
in Glasgow for Mr. Rich by an Orrington captain 
who was in his employ. 

In one house is the *' Governor's room " so called 
because governors and men of note have occupied it : 
the governors. Marble, Robie and Bodwell: Han- 
nibal Hamlin, when vice-president: J. G. Blaine 
when a member of Congress : and later Seth Milliken 
and Eugene Hale. The paper on the walls of this 
room has been described by the owner thus : " some 
one stood in the middle of the floor and threw white- 
wash at the wall," — so striking are the big white 
leaves against the bright blue background. 

One house has marvelous door decorations. Hie 
woodwork is painted with white enamel, and hand- 
decorated with gold. Each upper panel in the doors 
and the original window shutters, is the background 



170 An Old River Town. 

for a scene painted in oil in an oval surrounded by 
scroll work. There are nearly thirty of these scenes, 
each picturing sky, hills, water, one tree and a castle, 
arranged differently. The mistress of the house is 
wont to say: " all is not gold that glitters," for the 
mere sight of this gilt causes consternation in the heart 
of every maid she can employ and she finds herself 
alone with the pictures, gold lines and her house- 
work. 

Most of the hip-roofed houses have been changed 
to the pointed roof: the Little Tavern and the Fred 
Atwood homestead. Some follow the original plan, 
the Dudley house, Washburn, Kelly and Belches 
homes. When the last one was built there was no 
house between it and the river: its present owner, 
who was born in the house and has passed her eighty 
years there, can remember when no building stood 
on either side of the road between it and the Jones 
residence, except the old Sampson house and barn. 
The Belches house sets in the old garden at the foot 
of Whig street near Main and remains as it was built 
eighty-three years ago, except for the loss of its big 
chimney. 

The daily tasks performed in these homes were 
about the same as those of all New England house- 
holds. Each season brought its own work and 
domestic cares. 




^ 



House Furnishings and Firesides. 171 

With the coming of spring the need of a tonic was 
felt and in the preparation of it the younger members 
of the family could help. Chick Common was the 
base of supplies and there the children were sent for 
juniper boughs, yellow root, sassafras root, box berry 
or " ivory " leaves and spruce boughs. Nearer home 
was dug dandelion root, and mother had the wash 
boiler ready to receive them all. They were half 
covered with water, boiled and strained: then mo- 
lasses and yeast added to the liquor, and, after 
" working " for a few days it was transformed into a 
beverage that ** tasted so good " — old-fashioned 
spruce beer. 

Before house cleaning time the soft soap must be 
made. The winter's hard wood ashes, which had 
been accumulating, were now put into the leach tub 
which would hold a number of barrels. Hot water 
was poured over them till it soaked thro, then cold 
water, while pails were set under it to catch the drip- 
pings or lye. Sometimes it was a slow process and 
must stand all night before it began to run. Mean- 
while the large iron kettle, into which had been put 
scraps of soap grease and potash was set out doors 
over the fire. The lye was turned into this and the 
whole mixture '* biled," till it roped, when it was 
" done." This was the year's supply of soap and 
was used for everything except the bath. 



172 An Old River Town. 

Even if the mothers did alw^ays have to work, at 
times there would be a surprise for the big family of 
boys, which had been away to work. For several 
days before their return mother would do extra cook- 
ing. She had planned to dress up and invite them to 
tea — to bring out the best linen and dishes — to show 
them that she could entertain if she had the time and 
opportunity. It was the little things like this which 
made her boys big and manly — these were the things 
remembered when at her death bed, strong men could 
pledge themselves that for her memory, none bearing 
their name should ever come to want. 

There was quilting, plaiting of straw and bleach- 
ing bonnets, spinning and weaving, knitting and can- 
dle making for long summer days and winter eve- 
nings. 

Sometimes the quilting frames were set up out of 
doors, and around them the ladies gathered for a 
" bee " at which tongues worked as nimbly as fingers. 

Bleaching bonnets always suggests the name of 
Aunt Hannah Ferrin. She was a devout little 
maiden lady who lived in a cottage on Church street 
and who earned a living by sewing straw or plaiting 
grasses into bonnets. Then she hung them in a barrel 
to be bleached with smoking sulphur which had been 
set in the bottom of it. The barrel was covered but 
they had to be looked at every now and then to see 







'Mary .liidrews — //(^'r Saiiiplrr 



House Furnishings and Firesides. 1 73 

that they didn't burn. To children she was " the old 
woman who swept the cobwebs from the sky " and 
they loved dearly to go and see her. 

There is a story told of the time of the Dunstable 
straw bonnets. A maiden lady, Betsey Lane, was 
" help " for thirteen years in the family of Mr. Elisha 
Chick. *' Help " then meant one of the family. At 
one time her employer had for sale at his store a box 
of these bonnets. Now Betty was a strict Methodist 
and thought it wrong to wear bows or flowers — but 
these bonnets she liked and wanted one very much. 
But the price, $7, was beyond her means. Her em- 
ployer, in fun, told her that if on next Sabbath she 
would wear one to Universalist meeting he would 
give it to her. To his surprise and the surprise of 
every one else, on Sunday morning, Betty walked into 
church, arrayed in the big bonnet — bows and furbe- 
lows were missing for she wore just a ribbon under 
her chin for strings. 

The story of the spinning wheel has been told over 
and over again — how our grandmothers carded the 
wool and spun the yarn for dresses as well as for the 
family stockings and blankets : how the farmers raised 
their own flax and the wives spun the thread and 
wove their own linen. 

Each improvement in the art of candle-making 
came to us — from the primitive way — a long stick 



174 An Old River Town. 

suspended over a tub, along w^hich were twisted 
pieces of wicking — to various kinds of molds — which 
produced more and made work lighter. The winter 
evenings spent in helping mother, when childish hands 
could hold the ball of wicking, fasten it in the tubes 
or gather drippings from the tub of cold water — 
these are all a pleasant memory now, tho not fully 
appreciated then. 

The hands that could do all of these useful tasks 
could also turn to careful and dainty needlework, 
for the making of patchwork and samplers was taught 
to children of six or eight years. 

We wonder if it were fun for little Caroline Rich, 
aged eight in 1817, to work the stitches which, a 
hundred years later, we so much admire — even when 
the cross stitches were in pretty colored silks and when 
mother had woven the golden linen for her to work 
on. The careful hemstitching, the embroidery trees 
and plants must have sometimes been put in with a 
sigh because she wanted to go out to play. 

Or this sampler of Mary Andrews : did she some- 
times shed a tear over the long black lines which must 
be worked in before she could put in the gay colored 
letters; or did she work with joy because she was 
sure to play when the day's stent was done? Dear 
little girls, now remembered best as " grandmother 
Rich "or "Aunt Caroline!" 




Hand Emhroideri-(f C/nf/i,-s 



House Furnishings and Firesides. 175 

One woman tells that she knit a pair of stockings 
before she was five years old. " O,** she said, 
*' mother always brought her children up to knit a 
pair of stockings before they were four or five, as 
her mother had been brought up, and her grand- 
mother before her. Mother always made it a rule 
never to speak of anyone unless she could say some- 
thing good." 

Children were brought up in those days. 

So the young women could do all kinds of em- 
broidery on fine linen, for underwear — nightgowns 
and night caps of every description. And when the 
wedding day came, no dressmaker had fashioned the 
gown, bands and kerchiefs, but her own deft fingers 
had made the cloth, made the gown and all the trim- 
mings. And when children came to the new home, 
the mother's own hand had made the little garments 
and caps — decorating them in eyelet work, with little 
leaves or clovers. 

Now and then it happened that the wedding 
gov^Ti and its accessories came from abroad. Can 
you imagine Jane Prince Robbins attired in a dress 
of this gay pattern? This breadth is perhaps a yard 
long — a white ground. The thick foliage of the trees 
is half covered with two big chrysanthemum-like 
blossoms. At its foot are green leaves and foliage 
on a brown ground, crossed by a green fence. The 



176 An Old River Town. 

same pattern is repeated in different colors, in Blue- 
green or yellow-green. There is a story that this 
gown just missed being a wedding dress a second 
time. Years after the death of Mr. Goodwin's wife, 
he presented it to a friend of the family, for a wed- 
ding dress. The prospective bride was at the wash- 
tub one morning when her future husband came 
along. When he saw her washing, with the sleeves 
rolled back from the pretty white arms, he wanted 
her to go immediately to be married. So she went 
from her washing to her wedding and the dress was 
not used on that occasion — but in after years it ap- 
peared now and then at a ball. 

In these home pictures, we must not forget the 
dogs : for in that day they were as much a part of the 
family as the children were. Carlo Andrews, Trusty 
Jones, Tiger Rich and Cassius Washburn were im- 
portant members of those households. After Mr. 
Washburn's death, Cassius forsook the house and 
attached himself to a Mr. Page, following closely at 
his heels. His mistress would sometimes catch him 
and carry him into the house to cook meat for him — 
but this attention did not make up for the loss of a 
master and he would run to the gutter for food. 

The streets of the old town were quiet — that 
quiet which makes itself felt on warm mornings in 
summer in our New England towns. Everyone had 




ll't-ii(hii_ii ijown of Jan f Pri/uf Kohhiii.s 



House Furnishings and Firesides. 177 

gone to church, when a rap came at the door. There 
stood a stout old lady who nodded me a cheerful 
" good day, miss." I knew her not for she was out 
of the past and her face was concealed in a big green 
calash, two feet in circumference, which, as she nod- 
ded her head in conversation, nodded too in each of 
the separate rows of shirring and in each separate 
ruffle. The bridle held it in place, and at the same 
time she gathered the ends of her shawl on her bosom. 
This soft brown crepe shawl was edged with heavy 
embroidery and its folds and deep fringe fell nearly 
to the bottom of the poplin gown, of black and brown 
check, which completed the costume. 

It all belonged to grandmother and the green 
barege calash was her " meetin bunnit " made by 
her, only to be worn as best. Quite fitting it seemed 
on this Sabbath for her granddaughter to step back 
into a picture of a hundred years ago. 



IN *55. 

In the middle of the last century Frankfort was a 
flourishing business town. A newspaper of that time 
describes it as having " abundant wharves, numerous 
shipyards already renowned to the ends of the earth 
for the magnificent structures they have given to the 
seas, lumber manufactories, driven by steam which 
cease not their din day nor night for the greater part 
of the year." 

In 1855 its waterfront was fringed by twelve 
wharves. The ruins of them show quite a difference 
in construction from those of to-day. A box was 
made by driving piles into the mud, the center was 
filled in with cross logs and covered with rocks and 
gravel. Their flaw in construction is plainly shown 
in the way they have gone to pieces — the logs sup- 
porting the sides have fallen over, decayed or washed 
away, thus leaving no support for the heavy rocks. 

There were two piers at the steam mill ; one at the 
178 




0}t a Clear Day ; Fort Knox i>i the Distanee 



In *55. 179 

foot of Marine street; two wharves of the Union 
Company at Whig street; Dean's at Ferry street; 
two owned by Lathly Rich at Willow and Com- 
mercial streets; Williams' just south of Washington 
street; and J. Riche's just north of it; and Reeds 
wharf. 

One of the finest views in our town is from the old 
Holmes house. From this point, toward the south, 
are long fields, the still densely wooded Treat Point, 
and in the distance the dark top of Mt. Waldo and 
the sister mountains Heagan and Musketon. In clear 
weather Fort Knox may be discerned just at the 
farther end of the big bay which spreads out at the 
foot of the elm-bordered street leading down to the 
shore. Here, what a difference between the scene 
of to-day and that of half a century ago. We, 
whose memory cannot go back to that time can 
scarcely realize the changes the years have wrought 
in the picture. Now, a stretch of water, a veritable 
inland lake, an old weir on yonder point, and the 
worn piles of a tumble-down wharf at the river brink 
are but capital for the artist. This is all that remains 
to mark the site of the old steam mill, which was once 
a busy center for manufacturing lumber. 

Mr. Theophilus Cushing was head of the firm 
which carried on this large business, the various de- 
partments of which employed about a hundred men. 



180 An Old River Town. 

Gushing and Company's wharves consisted of two 
piers; a large one just south of Holmes street and a 
smaller one below. A long boom or pound for logs 
extended along the shore above the main wharf and 
was protected by a small breakwater. This break- 
water was opposite the Morrissy house. On the 
main wharf was a saw mill, and near by was the 
company's blacksmith shop. 

The shore road, or Oak street, then extended 
farther south, and at its junction with Holmes street 
was the store and office building. The company's 
boarding-house was near by. Mr. Gushing began 
this plant in 1 84 1 ; it was the largest establishment 
of its kind in town, and manufactured long lumber, 
sugar box shooks, laths, clapboards, soap and candle 
boxes. An extensive business was carried on for 
years. Then it was discontinued, and several years 
later the buildings were destroyed by fire. The steam 
mill property included Hardy's Point, which was 
sometimes called steam mill farm. Part of the British 
fleet anchored in this locality in 1812, on one of their 
searching parties. The British sloop Sylph grounded 
and was hauled off here. To lighten her, a number 
of cannon balls were thrown overboard. Two 
prominent men of the town happened to be near 
enough to be able to locate them. The next night 
after the departure of the sloop, at low water, one of 



182 An Old River Town. 

the men was on hand in a gondola and secured them. 
The second man claimed part of them as his share, 
but without success. 

It was thought wise to keep a night watch while 
the Sylph lay here. Mr. Archibald Jones was one 
of those to take a turn. Those who were with him 
proposed to range along the shore and see what had 
come on shore from her. They found a barrel of 
rosin, a cake of tallow, a piece of rope, and a water 
pail. 

There were originally two wharves at the foot of 
Mechanic street. One was Lindsey's wharf and the 
firm of Folsom and Lindsey did business here. 

A chain factory was at the Lindsey wharf, owned 
by the company of Sproul, Gushing and Kelley. 
After the business ran out the building was used as 
a foundry for the manufacture of the old-fashioned 
Hampden stoves. 

This also may have been the wharf known as 
" Mollie Hall Wharf " for at one time, Mrs. Hall 
who occupied a cottage near George Grant's house, 
moved into the upper rooms of Lindsey's storehouse. 
She was a well-known town character — her name 
appearing in the local phrase — " to have no more 
'scretion than Mollie Hall's pig." 

Mrs. Hall afterward married a Bowden, and be- 
came the mother of Robert, or " Bob Bodden," as 



In '55. 183 

he was called, who endeared himself to all the young 
people of the neighborhood by his unending fund of 
stories, especially his yarns about the famous " Good 
Ship Rover." 

It was near this wharf that the old mourning ring 
was found. 

The second wharf close by was sometimes known 
as the Little wharf. Two vessels were built here. 
The brig Caroline Kelley was one of them. The 
bark Wild Pigeon was also built here. Mr. Jones 
says that James Little had a brig loaded with lumber 
at his wharf, which was taken to Liverpool as a prize 
by the British (1814). 

The Union Company, which was composed of 
business men of the town, found that they needed a 
large wharf, so constructed the present steamboat 
wharf. It was the landing-place for Portland steam- 
ers and Edward Fernald was agent. In 1864 
there were four buildings on Union wharf, one 
cooper shop, one blacksmith shop and two store- 
houses. The company finally sold out to Amos 
Sproul, hence it is sometimes called Sproul's wharf. 
Then Treat and Company bought it, and it again 
became a business center. They had a big ship- 
yard on the north side of the wharf and several 
crafts were launched here, the brig Robin among 
others. The company put up the large building on 



184 An Old River Town. 

Main street now occupied by J. F. Hussey. They 
were large importers of sugar and molasses from the 
West Indies, and of hides and wool from South 
America. Besides the coopering business they 
carried on an extensive shipping trade. Possibly old 
sailors could tell interesting yarns of hairbreadth es- 
capes with lives and booty in the days of smuggling. 

In 1860 Messrs. Lord and Eveleth purchased the 
foundation of the Dean wharf, made improvements, 
enlarged it, built a large storehouse and installed a 
hay press there. They pressed hay for the govern- 
ment in war time. Portland steamers, the City of 
Richmond, T. F. Secor, and the Lady Lang stopped 
here. The name of the latter was painted on the 
storehouse, and this landing was then called the 
Lady Lang wharf. 

It was here, long afterward, that the eleven, 
twelve and fourteen ton pieces of the soldier's monu- 
ment were landed, and here came the twenty yokes 
of oxen and many horses to take it to Oak Hill 
Cemetery. 

The most interesting incident to occur here of late 

years, was during the high tide of , when the 

water was high over the spiling and flooded the river 
road and nearby buildings. One man rowed a boat 
up into Captain Clifford's shed. The receding tide 
left ice cakes weighing tons in the road. At this 



In '55. 185 

time, the Vandalia (locally called " the old Van- 
deelia *'), was landed on to the southern side of the 
wharf. And for once she followed the career of the 
warship whose name she bears and ** rode the high 
seas." 

The present Ferry wharf was built by Benjamin 
Shaw, and later passed in turn into the hands of 
Lathly Rich, George Crockett and Charles Rich, 
whose heirs sold it to the Winterport Ferry Com- 
pany. 

The McKenney wharf was at one time owned 
by Lathly Rich, and was a great shipping center. 
It was an especially busy place during the fall. Being 
the terminus, the *' winter port ** for boats, all freight 
landed here and was teamed to Bangor, and pas- 
senger service was by coach. The steamship com- 
pany was then called the Sanford Independent Line. 
It was afterward known as the Boston and Bangor 
Steamship Company, and is now the Eastern Steam- 
ship Company. 

A letter of April 1847, says: " It has been con- 
stant sledding till the 1 0th of the month, the river is 
not open yet, & we have had 4 boats in at a time 
from Boston." And again. " TTie boats are crowd- 
ing into Frankfort, Coaches & Stages are crammed 
and crowded full." 

At the foot of Dean street were two yards run by 



186 An Old River Town. 

George and Isaac Dunham. One yard was above 
and the other below the wharf ; and a long list of ves- 
sels can be given which were turned off these stocks. 
The Volunteer, a newspaper of '63 mentions that, 
" L. Rich, Esq., is getting out in Canada the frame 
of a fore and aft schooner of about 400 tons burthen, 
and will soon commence its building in the Dunham 
yard." 

Mr. Rich had a number of vessels constructed 
here. They were named for himself and for mem- 
bers of his family, — May A., Mary B., Annie A., 
Carrie M. and Lath Rich — the Rich fleet. He 
finally bought the property of the Dunhams. The 
lower yard extended up across the road and a vessel 
was built and launched in the hollow south of 
George Crockett's house. 

The storehouse was used in war time as barracks 
for the soldiers. The first company from Frankfort 
stayed here till they were called into service. 

Above Dunham's yard was the Arey and Wil- 
liams wharf. This firm also built many vessels. I 
have been told that between these two yards three 
ships at a time might be seen on the stocks. 

It was at this yard that the Bone and Muscle 
Society began its work. This was a company of 
ten or twelve men — carpenters and others — who 
were to work together, do all labor, and share the 



In '55. 187 

profits. They started to build one vessel, but too 
much money was needed for their project, so she was 
put up at auction. Treat and Company purchased 
and finished her and named her the Alpine. 

At the J. Rich wharf shipbuilding was done. 

Upon our shore, opposite the little church at North 
Bucksport, there has been until within a few years 
a large granite house. It was grewsome with its 
gaping windows, was said to be haunted, and no 
children playing on this shore ever dared to enter it. 
Below was the old stone wharf or the Reed wharf 
and the adjoining land is known as the " Reed 
Place." Originally this was owned by a company 
which at first did a thriving business. Above the 
main road on the eminence is a granite quarry which 
was worked then. There was a blacksmith shop 
which employed six or seven men. From the quarry 
to the wharf was a railroad and the landing was 
equipped with derricks and conveniences for handling 
stone. 

Captain William Reed of Bucksport bought out 

the company and added a cooper shop. Then he 

went into shipbuilding, and in '53 built the Isabella 

Jewett. Her model was in the Reed store on the 

Main road until within a few years. 

During a September gale, a schooner, the Eastern 
Bell, was dragged from the village and tipped over 



188 An Old River Town. 

at this wharf. This may have given rise to the story 
current that the first vessel Captain Reed built came 
into the river loaded with coal, and sunk at the wharf 
on the day of his death. 

Of the twelve wharves mentioned, only four are 
now in use — the steamboat, Eveleth's, the Ferry 
and McKenney's. 

Considering this decrease in the importance of the 
town, a newcomer naturally asks the cause of the 
change. There is no answer ready, but the feeling 
of the older citizens may be expressed in the words 
of an old river workman — " I feel lonesome on the 
river now." 



SMELT FISHING. 

This locality may add to the Century Dictionary. 
A search there for the word smelter showed that it is 
used only in connection with the iron industry. But 
we have smelters of a very different kind — the men 
who give us one of the choicest of table delicacies, 
the smelt. It is said that these tiny fish are so named 
because of their peculiar odor, like violets. We, who 
eat these dainties, do not realize the labor and danger 
with which the fishermen are beset. There are acts 
of daring and heroism, done here on our river by men 
who follow the occupation and, in mid-winter, set 
their nets for a livelihood, which are never recorded. 

The smelt fisher has a vocabulary, all his own, 
which is most interesting if he chooses to explain it. 

The first smelting near us was done at Hampden, 
and the oldest fisherman there was Joe Higgins — 
"uncle Joe," his mates called him. 

At the Cove, ice fishing was carried on. When 
189 



190 An Old River Town. 

the river froze over, the fisherman w^ent to mid-river 
on the ice, cut holes in it and set his nets. The 
square mesh net was used, one about thirty feet by 
ten, such as seiners took in drifting for shad or 
alewives. They were hand knit over a mesh board, 
of about one and one-eighth inch mesh, as size of fish 
demanded. The nets were fastened by their four 
corners to two long poles, which were then let per- 
pendicularly through the opening in the ice till they 
nearly touched the river bed. All along the New 
England coast smelts were caught in this way. On 
the Piscataqua, boys used to put up a tent (fore- 
runner of our fish camp), over a five or eight foot 
hole, warm themselves by an oil lamp and com- 
fortably await a catch. 

Open water fishing was begun off our shore and 
in this " Cap'n " Joe Arey was the pioneer. Joe 
Stubbs was his partner but later sold out to Loren 
Jepson ; every fisherman has a partner, for two strong 
men are needed to handle the gear. 

A more elaborate equipment was needed for this 
kind of fishing: an anchor, frame, scow, net and the 
fish camp. 

A camp, just large enough to contain a bunk, a 
stove and a chair or two, was set on the shore near 
the owner's fishing privilege. Sometimes it was 
shingled and sometimes just laid over with boards, 



Smelt Fishing. 191 

and near it was generally a pile of hardwood or 
of driftwood. This was the temporary home of the 
fisherman during the smelting season. A few camps 
or shacks are now at the steam mill wharf, and near 
the steamboat wharf. Many have been removed 
from the latter place, but years ago there were three 
times as many as now. A man who looked at a 
recent photograph of this miniature village, said: 
" Uncle Joe's camp ain't there any longer." 

A rock of several tons (generally of granite), is 
used for the anchor, and is taken to some place in 
the river which " does not interfere with navigation," 
and sunk. Two holes have been drilled in it and 
in them are secured an iron bale to which is attached 
a seven or eight foot chain. On the other end of 
the chain is a spar, (a thirty foot buoy), into the 
free end of which is fastened an iron clevis, like the 
piece of iron on the end of a cart tongue. 

Four twenty-five foot poles form the square frame. 
The upper one or " top pole " is of spruce : the three 
lower ones are of hardwood. From each of the four 
comers of the frame radiate a forty foot guy rope, 
the free ends of which are fastened together. 

When, in the fall, this frame is taken on the long, 
flat-bottomed scow to the middle of the river, the 
knotted end of the guy rope is attached to the iron 
clevis of the buoy. The tide swings the scow up- 



192 An Old River Town. 

river and the frame is tipped off into the w^ater. If 
the M^eight of the wood will not sink the frame, it is 
sometimes made heavier by lashing weights to the 
four corners, for it must stand upright across the river 
like a door frame. Its " top-pole " must be under 
water, at least, the difference of the tide's flow and 
ebb, which is about twelve feet here. This frame 
remains in the water till spring, when it is taken out, 
sold, destroyed, or repaired to be used next year. 

With the frame, the bag net is used. One edge 
of it is fastened to the top of the frame. The op- 
posite edge is held parallel to it till needed, when, 
by the use of guys, two big rings, an opener and 
a clew line, it is let down to the bottom of the frame. 
The net is always set at low water just as the tide 
is at its first flood. When the tide sets in, it pulls the 
net out into a bag shape and the fish go into it 
through the frame. 

After the frame is anchored the fisherman Is ready 
to begin work at the opening of the season, when 
the cold weather comes on. 

Let's go out with them for a catch in the old days, 
in the days when there were four " strings " of 
boats, as the men called the different groups. In 
daytime the flowing ice was dotted with black 
scows, a muffled figure at each end: and by night 
their lanterns threw uncertain lights across irregular 



Smelt Fishing. 193 

cakes of creaking ice. There was the ** steam mill 
string," the one at Treat's wharf, and the little one 
at Hardy's Point called in fun, the " Mushrats: " 
but we will follow the middle string, of forty or fifty 
fishers, among them some " fellers " from the Cove. 

The boats are rowed from shore till each man 
finds his watch buoys, one of which ought to float 
from each upper clew line of his net. When found, 
the man at each end of the boat seizes it and pulls 
in on the rope, thus swinging the scow across the 
river: they creep up closer to the frame, shorten the 
rope till over it. Then they haul hard on the rope 
till the frame comes up alongside of the boat and 
make fast. 

They begin to haul : as the net comes out of water 
thin ice coats it and the ropes with shell ice falling 
from them are not easy to hold. It is a forty or fifty 
pound catch and both men must work fast and keep 
their wits about them, for if the running ice finds 
them fast to the frame, it is all up with them. 
They are now at the tide's mercy if it decides 
to play some trick. It may turn and run down 
while the frame is half over the boat and the 
net half in, or, the " freshet on this tide may run up, 
turn right around and go back again." The bravest 
of fishermen feels a relief when his ice-laden cargo is 
secured, the net has gone overboard, the frame has 



194 An Old River Town. 

been pushed off and he is free. No doubt many a 
retired fisher can hear the voice of Uncle Joe Hig- 
gins, on a still and frosty night, call to the " middle 
string " to come this way or that, as their boats were 
making a way thro the ice to the eddy in shore. 

If the nets are set in the evening at eight, the flood 
will call for the men to haul, in about four hours. 
For days, he may get nothing, or perhaps his reward 
be but a few pounds. Then he gets discouraged, 
lays off and spends his time in camp, smoking or tell- 
ing stories, till some one gets a bushel. The news 
spreads fast among the camps and again the channel 
fills with boats. 

Another " Penobscot man " here in our little 
village, 

" And it may be that the Penobscot man is a 
better, wiser, more serious man than even his con- 
temporaries have judged him to be." 



HERE AND THERE IN THE VILLAGE. 

Time changes faces and brings new people to old 
homes, but lays his hands lightly on localities that 
here and there have been of sufficient importance in 
the lives of our fathers to receive a name. 

Summer visitors and those returning to old home 
gatherings look in vain for the old acquaintance, but 
they may return to old haunts and scenes and know 
that these will be found unaltered. 

In this good Prohibition state and in our very 
midst, long ago, Nature set a high hill, removed its 
top and dug an enormous cavity in its center, to 
which man gave the name, the Punch Bowl, There 
are different stories of the origin of this name : that on 
its slopes the Indians met for their war dances and 
in the hollow prepared their drinks; that when the 
British came up the river, they repaired to this hill 
to brew their punch: that a cloven hoof print on 
some rock bespoke the Evil One's presence at one 

195 



196 An Old River Town. 

time and the locality became the Devil's Punch 
Bow^l. 

All of this is interesting in view of the fact that 
owing to its peculiar formation, no water ever stands 
in its basin, altho as late as June snow has been 
found in the bottom of it. It is of granite formation 
and once an attempt was made to quarry it, but 
owing to the inferior quality of the stone, the enter- 
prise was unsuccessful. 

It has served as a picnic ground for the young 
people of the town and has been the scene of May 
parties in years gone by: the small boy hunted here, 
for partridges, squirrels, rabbits and for spruce gum. 

One who had played there in boyhood recently 
visited the spot, but for him its glory had departed, 
most of the old trees having been cut down and the 
only live thing to welcome him was a gray squirrel. 
From this highest point in the village — one which 
is selected by surveyors as a signal station — there is 
a surprisingly wide-spread view: to the west, of 
country, farm and woodland, bordered on the 
horizon by the low-lying hills of Dixmont and 
Monroe: to the east, of the Bucksport hills, Cobb's 
Mountain and Alamoosick, — Blue Hill in the dis- 
tance — with the river threading a blue line between : 
to the south, the home mountains. Treat's, Mount 
Waldo and Mosquito: and on a clear day the hard 



Here and there in the Village. 197 

climb is repaid by a glimpse of Mount Katahdin to 
northward. 

A young growth of birches and maples has 
matured along the inner slope of this bowl, whose 
tops are far below one who stands on the summit 
and he is filled with a desire to explore the depth. 
A descent reveals luxuriant foliage, beds of hay- 
scented ferns, and here and there the polypody and 
oak fern grow. 

As one clambers up the steep side, a redstart or a 
vireo is scared from its nest and the odor of mint 
arises as it grows thro the rock-strewn grass of the 
rim. 

A descent of the southern slope of the Punch 
Bowl brings one into an oak grove whose leaves in- 
dicate many varieties. These trees were set out by 
Doctor Manter who had secured them from various 
states. The field road on the " Manter farm " leads 
into a valley in the bed of which runs the brook — 
Lowe's brook — which has been followed to the 
bridge for trout always. From the river, about 
twenty or thirty rods up the brook are the remnants 
of a beaver dam built, no one knows how many years 
ago. 

There is a tradition that at High Head on the 
river a fort or stockade was set by the early inhabitants 
as a protection against Indians and other intruders. 



198 An Old River Town. 

But it is certain that in these later years the swallows 
chose its beetling brows as a safe place for their nests. 
At high tide vessels used to be hauled up on the 
shore under its banks for repairs: but now the dock 
is so filled that even a small boat must land a hun- 
dred feet or so from the foot of the hill and a high 
rock from which the boys used to dive and go swim- 
ming is now entirely covered and the salt grass grows 
over it. 

The sweet grass grew in abundance on the shore 
just south of High Head and on a bank above were 
" the oaks." Under this group of trees some one 
has said : " the courting of the town was done for 
years." The big trees were friends of boys and girls: 
and a neighbor, when she returned home one night 
to find that they had been cut down, wept as at the 
loss of an old friend. When asked if she would 
ever have the one in front of her house cut down, she 
said: " No, indeed, not as long as I own it." 

One of the favorite Sunday walks was to the foot 
of Church street where, from the eminence could be 
seen the boats as they came up river or made 
their landings. Fifty years ago there was an old 
cellar on this hill — grass-grown with a big rock in its 
center and around the edge young trees. 

One day a heavy rain fell and filled the cellar so 
that just the top of the rock was visible. At the same 




The OI,l 0,1 k 



Here and there in the Village. 199 

time, it washed from the trees so many caterpillars 
that the place was " just alive with them: you never 
saw such a sight in your life," said an eye witness: 
and on that special Sunday afternoon the place was 
equally alive with people to witness the spectacle. 
Ever since that day the locality has been known as 
Caterpillar Hill. 

Not far from this spot is the site of the original 
Sampson house, which burned and was later suc- 
ceeded by the low yellow dwelling still called by 
the same name. Long before a town water system 
was heard of, Mr. Sampson had foreseen modem 
conveniences and introduced the pipe system into his 
house. Over in the field to the west was a spring 
which bubbled up in three or four places, and from 
this an aqueduct of hollow logs laid end to end 
carried the water into his house. Not long ago 
when repairs on the main road were made remnants 
of these logs were found. 

Sampson's spring became a town institution and 
as one of its neighbors said : " watered the town for 
years, ever since I can remember." To and from it 
were worn many paths. Along one of them it was 
a common sight to see " Minister Hayes " with yoke 
across his shoulder, carrying two pails of water to 
his home near meeting house hill. 

Its healing properties were known by the small 



200 An Old River Town. 

boy with a sore leg who would come and sit at its 
edge on the bed of pennyroyal, and bathe the af- 
flicted member knowing that it would be soothed. 

When a circus came to town the animals were 
taken here to drink: it was interesting to watch the 
elephants. TTiey would cautiously try the ground 
with one foot — when sure it was safe, would drink 
and drink till the spring seemed dry, clean their trunks 
on the side of the bank, then spout the water off, — 
to the great delight of children watching them. 

A glance at some old Commercial House registers 
finds their pages decorated with ornate specimens of 
penmanship — birds' heads attached to scrolls or 
swans* wings, animals with red eyes — adorning long 
lists of names, each name perhaps terminating with an 
elaborate flourish. This was one way of advertising 
the shows with which the place was flooded in the 
50's and 60's, for Frankfort was considered a good 
show town. 

** The Great United States Circus 
and Menagerie." 

It took two long pages to register the names of its 
performers — fifty-eight in all. 



Here and there in the Village. 201 

" Part of the 

Great Oriental Circus & Egyptian 

Caravan." 

** The Great North American 
Circus and Hippodrome." 

Probably there was no greater anticipation of the 
coming of these than was aroused by the brown 
paper hand bills on which young Toby Tyler an- 
nounced to his own fellow townsmen. 

*' Big Circus 

Doors open Putty Soon 
Price 3 cents " 

The present G. A. R. Hall has been in its day a 
social center. Originally it was a Congregationalisl 
vestry and stood on Kaler street just below the 
Methodist church. A Mr. Holbrook bought it 
and moved the building to its present location on 
Commercial street and it was called Holbrook's 
Hall. Then it was " taken care of " by Joe Clark 
and became Clark's Hall. In it was held every kind 
of entertainment from " Comical Brown " to a 
Christmas tree. A voice from its green room would 
tell interesting things. 



202 An Old River Town. 

**The Hutchinson Family 

Tribe of Asa 

1865." 

"Style and Phelps — Clog Dancers." 

" Rope Tyer — Prof. Harry." 

Even " Ten Nights in a Bar Room " has received 
applause due it from an enthusiastic audience within 
these walls. 

The " Silver Gray Sheet and Pillow Case Ball " 
and many other dances were given there by the 
town's people. 

The word dance suggests to old timers one per- 
son, old Jack Douglas. No anniversary, wedding, 
excursion or social gathering of any kind in that day 
was ever a success, without the characteristic music 
of his fiddle or fiddles; for Jack had a collection of 
them and liked to use the one best suited to his 
mood; some of them are now distributed about in 
the country. 

This man known to us as Jack Douglas was a 
town character. It is said that he was bom on the 
island of San Domingo probably about the year 
1 780. Various stories of his early life were abroad, 
but the old man was always reticent about himself. 



Here and there in the Village. 203 

On one occasion, when asked how many brothers 
and sisters he had, he gave a gruff reply, " didn't 
stop to count *em " and lapsed into silence. Uncle 
Billy Mansfield was the one man in whom he con- 
fided and this confidence was not misplaced. 

When a boy he was drafted into the English army 
to serve for seven years — was for a time at Cape 
Verde Islands as a major: there he learned our lan- 
guage and came to this country as a stowaway, con- 
cealed in a hogshead. 

Another story is that he ran away from home to 
be a drummer boy. Tiring of this life, he made his 
escape by swimming from the island: took his drum 
along, having concealed his violin in it. He was 
picked up by an American man-o'-war and in some 
way fell in with Captain John Shute of Prospect who 
brought him to this country about 1 846. 

He lived in the Shute family and plied his trade as 
a hatter : but it was not long before his musical ability 
became known and he was sought thro the surround- 
ing towns, so made trips with the violin, sometimes by 
horseback and sometimes by boat. On one of these 
he was gone three or four months down by Machias 
or Calais and returned with a bride — a white woman. 

He bought a small farm near " Poverty shore," 
cultivated it a little : organized a band of twenty-four 
reed pieces: gave violin lessons to a few young men 



204 An Old River Town. 

thereabouts and still made trips thro the country. 
While away on one of them, his wife saw another 
colored man whom she liked better and ran away 
with him: but this did not dishearten Jack for he 
made three subsequent marriages, with a colored 
woman, a white woman, and, after he came to Frank- 
fort to live, with an Indian woman, Mary Oney. She 
was but fifteen and Jack, they said, was old enough 
to be her grandfather. She was from Dixmont, 
daughter of a full-blooded Indian who dressed in 
blankets and made baskets. 

Jack lived in Frankfort for twelve or fifteen years 
on the Billy Mansfield farm out on Whig street. His 
copper-colored face framed in iron-gray hair and 
beard, his tall figure which stooped a little was a 
familiar sight as he went about on his old white horse. 
Jack had none of the characteristic features of the 
southern negro: tho Mary said that he " could play 
every kind of an instrument except a Jew's harp " 
and added that he couldn't " play that, his lips were 
too thick." 

He was universally liked for he was good com- 
pany : and could play best when he had embibed of 
the fire water, and everyone adds " he was always 
a gentleman." 

He was taken on excursions on the old steamer 
Tarratine — to play for the dancing. People would 



Here and there in the Village. 205 

come twenty or thirty miles to take him to a wed- 
ding. 

At this time the dancing of Fanny Elssler was at- 
tracting attention: and tissue paper figures of the 
danseuse, attached to a sand glass in a way to make 
her dance, were the fashion. Captain Joshua At- 
wood had brought one from Boston: but for some 
reason the contrivance wouldn't work. So one of 
the assembled company suggested " let's have Jack 
to play for her." He came and at the first strains of 
Money Musk the lady began to dance. Only Jack 
could make the fiddle speak, only he could make 
her dance. 

Jack composed music, could write it and talk at 
the same time, tho you never could get him to speak 
while playing. Howe's violin book contained some 
of his waltzes, and in other books were his compo- 
sitions with suggestive names — Mountain Hornpipe, 
Douglas's Hornpipe and Hole in the Floor. 

Then, too, he could make a violin. One of his 
which is most prized is partly of his own construc- 
tion: the pegs he whittled of red-wood, the finger 
board was of bone and with his knife he fashioned 
the baseboard. 

It is said that in the top is a piece of the negro's 
old hat and some writing: but no amount of curi- 
osity will induce the owner to take it apart and read. 



206 An Old River Town. 

He has refused a thousand dollars for the instrument, 
he says, tho he paid an old violin and seventy-five 
dollars for it and the additional promise " never to 
part with it except for bread." 

Some say that the secret of Jack's accomplish- 
ments lay in the fact that he was a spiritualist: for 
he had faith in the spirits' workings and was guided 
by their directions. 

A Mr. De Silver had bought Jack*s old house at 
Poverty Shore and made some improvements on it. 
So he invited its former owner to come down and 
fiddle for the festivities of the house-warming. Jack 
had a homesick feeling and accepted the invitation, 
saying he was " going to the bone garden for a few 
days." A too prophetic remark ! For he was taken 
ill and died there and was buried on the shore not 
far from his first home. His wife continued to live 
in this town, doing housework or helping in a few 
families and for years " aunt Mary Douglas " was a 
welcome caller at any fireside. Her last days, how- 
ever, were spent at the poor farm. 

Jack used to talk with his violin it is said and the 
old instrument still converses with him. As it lies 
in its case to-day, its owner hears raps on the box. 
Perhaps no attention is paid to them but they are not 
silent till the instrument is taken from its box, un- 
wrapped from the silk cover and the bow drawn 




llu- I own i roiii^n 



Here and there in the Village. 207 

across the strings. Any tune will not satisfy it, for 
till Douglas's Favorite has been played it will not go 
back to its box content. 

One of the first permanent places of refreshment 
for animals, aside from natural drinking places by 
the roadside, was the watering trough between the 
old Haley place and Tapley's Mills, on the way to 
Mouseville. As early as 1857 a tub was placed 
here by Mr. Ferrin Blaisdell, with the help of a nine- 
year-old son. They felled a tree from the grove 
above the spot and led the water into the tub. Mr. 
Blaisdell kept this in repair for years until the farm 
came into the hands of John Snow. " From James 
Haley's to the watering trough " was a Sunday 
drive. 

For years the gypsies camped near the spot and 
their coming did not please the neighbors for they 
learned that the coming of a gypsy band meant 
a spell of rainy weather. 

Years later a granite watering trough was set at 
the southern end of the town, a gift of Dr. Charles 
Abbott. In a glen back of it there used to be a 
fountain which sent its spray into a large round 
granite basin and flowed into the brook under the 
main road. There were steps to the brook and 
strollers here on Sunday afternoon must have a drink 
from the bubbling spring. 



FIRST AND LAST. 

Public buildings were not a necessity among the 
settlers, to make them consider public affairs. 

During the first days of their life here, a town 
house was not necessary in order to transact town 
business: the roadside, a woodpile, or a settler's 
cabin served just as well. 

They did not wait for a schoolhouse before 
teaching their children: but the little ones gathered 
at a fireside, or around a living-room table, and with 
the instruction of a neighbor learned to read and 
write. 

A church or minister were not needed for public 
worship: at some house or sometimes in a barn, the 
people gathered to hear the exhortations of a native 
preacher; and if the expected missionary were de- 
tained by wind or weather, the assembled company 
sang hymns, read the Scripture and dispersed to 
their homes. 

208 



First and Last. 209 

As early as 1 793, the question of education, of 
raising school money was being discussed: to make 
provision for the housing and teaching of children 
in the settlement. This was long before a house 
of worship for parents was thought of. When the 
first schoolhouse was built, it was used on Sunday 
as a meeting-house: thereafter, education and re- 
ligion were discussed together and town meetings 
called for the consideration of both. 

In January, 1 794, the village fathers met at Cap- 
tain Grant's to hear the report of a committee about 
hiring a schoolmaster: and at this meeting the dis- 
trict was divided into districts and the money 
divided among them. 

" The district from John Kemptons to 
Adam Grant's red house hired a schoolmaster 
for one month. Daytime for Small children & 
evenings for Men & Large Boys. Six Dollars 
a month & we board him." 

The first master was one Thomas Story, who 
by the twentieth of February had taught his month 
in the upper part of the district and was ready to 
move on. 

By March 1797, there was money enough for 
a building and another meeting was called. 



210 An Old River Town. 

" March 8. 1 797. We met at Capt Rich's 
to see what our school district should do about 
building a School House & we agreed to build 
one & agreed with James Stubbs to get the 
frame 22 feet by 18 for 20 Dollars it is to be 
9 feet clear in the walls & all white pine ex- 
cept braces & studs." 

It must have been built slowly as in 1800, a 
Mr. Thayer was keeping school at the widow 
Rich's. 

Five years later, a schoolhouse was built near 
the present Sampson street, and was used the fol- 
lowing year for town meetings. The later teachers 
of this school were Mr. Ricker: the late T. W. 
Vose of Bangor and ex-Secretary of State, Sumner 
Chadborne of Augusta. 

On the site of the Atwood block on Main street, 
stood the old brick schoolhouse which was torn 
down in 1850, but it is still living in many minds. 
It was a low building; set back from the street and 
approached by two flights of steps. The up street 
and down street children went here, a little room 
for the little ones and a big room for the older chil- 
dren. Two wide aisles separated its three rows 
of desks and led up some steps to the platform, to 
the master's desk — an uphill road, the path of 



First and Last. 2 1 1 

learning. One still lives among us who presided 
here and many remember her wise teaching. One 
master is not forgotten. In winter he had a hun- 
dred pupils and could not possibly hear all the little 
ones say their letters: so he heard a few, then tak- 
ing a child on each knee, finished the lesson by 
telling them all a story. 

To the children the desk looked like a pulpit. 
Perhaps it was meant to inspire them, and on 
Sabbath day it was used as one. 

In this house the Congregationalists held services 
while the chapel farther down the street was closed. 
Here came Unitarian, Trinitarian, Methodists and 
Congregationalists to decide about building a new 
church, and from these plans came the church on the 
hill. Baptist preachers drew their followers here 
and roused the village to a revival and laid the 
foundations for a new church. 

In 1833 there was a Select school. It had a 
first department and a second department, presided 
over by an instructor and an instructress. The 
names of its pupils were enrolled as males and fe- 
males, one hundred and thirty-eight in all, of whom 
but eleven were living in 1 90 1 . 

Many of us can remember the evening time, m 
our early years, when after the supper dishes were 
cleared and grandfather came in from the bam, he 



212 An Old River Town. 

put on his specs, took the big Bible from its place 
on the shelf near the clock, and sat at the end of 
the table, which stood against the wall after its 
leaves had been turned down. He began to read 
the Word, and expected the children to pay atten- 
tion. But if the childish mind wandered, a quick 
call of the delinquent's name, made her turn and 
meet the eyes of her elder, peer over the steel bows 
— " Listen now! " No church was needed for 
that service and the days held more time for 
worship and discussion of the soul's affairs than 
they do now. The fact that such attempts were 
made is shown by to-day's old family Bibles and 
the Bible is all that is left of some of these families 
to-day. 

So, a hundred years ago, each house was a fit 
place for service, and each took its turn as a meet- 
ing-house. 

** Anthony preached at Bolan's." 
** Mr. Hall preached at Josiah Colson's." 
*' Mr. Anthony preached at Whittam's." 
" Sunday Meeting at Mr. Oakman's New 

House." 

" Mr. Wager preached at Littlefield's. 

Wife went." 

** In a snowstorm went to Mrs. Rich's to 



First and Last. 213 

hear Mr. Mudge preach but he did not come. 
They sang songs & we came home." 

** A new Methodist preacher at Mr. 
Bolan's to day, his name is Tim Merritt from 
Conn." 

Preachers well known in early church history 
worked here and sought the souls of men. Jesse 
Lee, Joshua Hall and the Reverend Enoch Mudge 
of the Methodist faith; Paul Coffin and Parson 
Sewell, the Congregationalist ; and the Baptist 
elder, Simon Emery. Then there were the Jesuit 
missionaries, Chiampi, Virgillinto, Vetromele and 
Father Bapst. 

The Methodists began their teachings here when 
in 1 793, Jesse Lee left his followers in Massa- 
chusetts, Boston and vicinity to undertake the con- 
version of what is now the whole state of Maine. 
Stories of his endeavors are to-day rehearsed, of the 
building of the first Maine meeting-house, of his 
travels and of how he swam his horse across the 
Penobscot in order to meet an appointment at 
Hampden. 

When his work called him elsewhere, brother 
Joshua Hall came to Maine and in 1795 formed 
what was called the Penobscot circuit. This com- 
prised the towns east and west of the Penobscot 



214 An Old River Town. 

river. He also joined the towns of Hampden, Or- 
rington and Frankfort into a society and it is said 
that in spite of hardships and violent opposition his 
efforts were successful. 

The Reverend Enoch Mudge came next, settled 
at Orrington, from which place he fulfilled his 
pastoral duties along the river. The life of the mis- 
sionary preacher in those days was full: long 
journeys were his, entertained in comfortless dwel- 
lings and often partaking of hard fare. This divine, 
shortly after he settled, took to himself a wife and 
his publishment certifies 

" That the Rev. Elnoch Mudge formerly 
of Lynn but now a resident of Orrington and 
the Widow Jerusha Hinkley of Orrington hath 
been lawfully Published & that their Inten- 
tion of Marriage hath been entered fourteen 
Days prior to the Date of this Certificate. 
Solomon Swett Town Clerk, Orrington, Oct. 
27. 1797." 

The marriage ceremony was performed by Doc- 
tor Goodwin, who happily comments upon the 
event and its effect on the divine. 

"Oct. 29, 1797. Went up to Orrington 



First and Last. 215 

Meeting House with my wife in Capt. Rich's 
Boat & there married the Rev. Enoch Mudge 
to the Widow Jerusha Hinkley in the Said 
Meeting House. A Parson Merritt preached 
in the forenoon & in the afternoon, Mr. 
Mudge, a very fine sermon. I think he 
preached the better for being married — be that 
as it may it was the best sermon I ever heard 
him preach.** 

The Methodist Society grew in these parts and 
finally Frankfort became the strongest church in the 
circuit ; the boundaries of these districts had changed 
from time to time. 

So, with other denominations in the village, the 
members began to consider the question of build- 
ing a church. There had been chapels. After 
deliberation it was built, what is now the Congrega- 
tionalist Church and was known as the Union 
Meeting-house. The building was dedicated in 
January 1832, and its pulpit was to be occupied 
by ministers of the different denominations which 
had built it and in time proportioned according to 
their contributions. After a while, however, differ- 
ences arose amongst them and the Methodists sold 
out to the Congregationalists and held meetings 
in the present Congregationalist vestry, until in 1 850 



216 An Old River Town. 

when they built the church which they now 
occupy. 

There is a long list of the good men who have 
ministered here: among those of later years are 
Elder E. H. Small, Reverend T. B. Tupper, Mr. 
Bolton, Mr. Springer, Mr. Jewell, and George 
Pratt. Associated closely with the church work are 
the citizens. Job Lord, Reuben Rich, Chandler 
Goodwin and many others. 

The church building has been little changed in 
exterior, but some repairs have been made inside. 
The pulpit used to be in the west end of the house 
and thus all seats faced the door, with the singer's 
seats in the rear. 

One who was in the congregation at the dedi- 
catory service remembers that the sermon was on 
church manners. The listeners were to notice 
strangers and give them prompt attention and wel- 
come: to walk into church on the balls of the feet, 
thus disturbing no one: and the men were reminded 
to remove their hats on entering the vestibule and 
not put them on till that point was reached again. 
The Congregationalist Church, the first one to be 
erected in town, is now the finest location on the 
river; and its spire first bids us welcome as the river 
bears us home. As we know its early history is that 
of the Methodist society. 



First and Last. 217 

The lot chosen for its foundation, at that first 
business meeting in the old schoolhouse, was on the 
hill between the Washburn land and that of Esquire 
Jones. This was originally a part of a ten-acre lot 
sold off from the Ephraim Grant farm. This ledge, 
as it was designated, was determined upon and the 
future church was to be modeled after the (then) 
New Orrington meeting-house at a cost of $3000. 

Calvin Rider was the contractor and his work 
stands good to-day, strong and well built. The 
uneven sides of its heavy beams show hand work 
and are held together by heavy wooden pins. Its 
general lines remain the same, but repairs from time 
to time have greatly altered the interior. 

The dedicatory service was held in 1834. An 
attendant at church on that day on entering by either 
door, found himself in a large vestibule. He ex- 
changed good morning with his neighbors, and 
while he waited for the crowd to pass in, his eye 
rested on a little square box, fastened to the wall 
near one of the doors which led up the short flight 
of steps to the gallery. This was the publishment 
box and its little glass front was of interest to church- 
goers and contained more mystery than did the old 
way of crying the marriage intentions in the street. 

As he passed under the gallery into the church, 
past the box-stove in either corner, he was shown 



218 An Old River Town. 

a seat half way up the aisle and the pew door was 
closed. While waiting for service to begin, the eye 
wandered to the arch over the high pulpit which 
bore the inscription 

** Dedicated to the Service of Almighty God, 
in the Year of Our Lord 1833." 

Many a little girl has studied that or admired 
the crimson hangings and their tassels, which draped 
the pulpit, while wishing for the service to be over. 

The service was much the same as now, except 
that the congregation stood during the prayer and 
faced the choir, while the hymns were sung. The 
gallery extended across the width of the house and 
along it was a railing over which hung red baize 
curtains. When service began, they were pushed 
back, and he saw the singers: one of the Kempton 
girls and Mary Haley's mother. Even now, some 
new bonnet, lace kerchief, silken shawl, black silk 
mits or dainty fan, worn on that day is remembered. 
Then there was Laura Little, and Mrs. Powers, 
and on either side Ben Gushing played the bass viol 
and Sewell Tapley, the violin. All were led by 
Mr. Cobb, the singing-school master. TTie sermon 
was preached by Reverend E. Frothingham, a 
Unitarian minister from Belfast. 



First and Last. 219 

There was living at Roxbury, Massachusetts, at 
this time, a man who is described as " another ex- 
ample of the success which is almost certain to re- 
sult from industry and thrift." This was Benjamin 
Bussy, who had been in the Revolution, had later 
acquired a fortune by engaging in foreign commerce 
and who used it to generous ends. Mrs. Benjamin 
Shaw, a member of the union society, interested 
him in It and he presented a bell — a " Paul Revere 
bell." The same Paul Revere who is a hero in 
history was also a silversmith, a bell founder, and 
from his own shop grew works which still retain his 
name — the Revere works. The boy who climbs 
to the top of our belfry will find in heavy letters 
across the bell, " Revere, Boston." 

Our bell was accepted with due ceremony and 
it was voted that it be rung at half past seven in the 
morning, twelve at noon, nine in the eve until the 
twentieth of March and also that it be rung on the 
Sabbath for meetings as is usual in other places : and 
when Mr. Bussy went up the river on some trip it 
was rung in his honor. 

The Sunday-school children presented the Bible 
in 1858. 

Many repairs were made in 1 860, the roof slated, 
part of the gallery removed, pulpit lowered and the 
doors taken from the pews. In October of the same 



220 An Old River Town. 

year, the clock was purchased by subscription and 
put up. 

The Congregationalist Society was organized in 
the town in 1820 and consisted of three male mem- 
bers. Deacon Thomas Colbum, Mr. Richard 
Thurston and Bailey Peirce. Preaching was sup- 
plied by the missionary society. Four years later, 
the society, now increased to eight members, had 
an ordained minister, Mr. Jubilee Wellman. Its 
services were held in the schoolhouse, then in a 
chapel which stood on land now the head of Kaler 
street. Then came the union of churches, the sev- 
ering of this union, after which the first resident 
preacher of the new society was the Reverend 
S. S. Tappan, who built the Gushing homestead 
and occupied it. Among other pastors have been, 
S. N. Hayes, Mr. Wright and Mr. Blanchard. 

From the brick schoolhouse meetings was started 
another church, this time the Baptist. A Mr. 
Charles G. Porter came to the village and held 
revival meetings thro the fall and winter, with such 
success that there were enough converts to think of 
building a meeting-house. A plot of land was 
bought near the head of Church street in 1843 and 
a small building erected. Names associated with 
this church were the Roweels, the Kelleys, Couil- 
liards, Fernalds and Tapleys. 



First and Last. 221 

A citizen in town says that they must have had 
a good Sunday-school for he remembers many a 
Sunday morning of being called at four to get his 
lesson. 

For years after Mr. Sargent went away the build- 
ing was not used and was finally torn down in 
1882. 

About the year '47 when the lumber mills were 
flourishing and the shipyards needed hands, a few 
Irishmen came to the village seeking employment. 
They either brought families or married here and 
there grew to be quite a settlement in the southern 
end of the town. Of course they soon felt the need 
of a place of worship. For some time they met at 
private houses, at the McDermott, McDonaugh, 
Goodnow or Haley homes, and were ministered to 
by the missionaries whom the Catholic Church had 
sent thro the Maine territory. 

In many parts of the country there was bitter feel- 
ing against their faith, and its followers suffered 
many hardships at the hands of some narrow-minded 
Protestants. The same feeling crept into the vil- 
lage of Frankfort and many times mass was said in 
secret: when the church was finally built, it had to 
be guarded at night. Those were the times that 
*' tried men's souls." 

One of the secret meeting-places, was the bam 



222 An Old River Town. 

now attached to the Wharf house: this was ori- 
ginally the Haley house and stood on the site of 
the Abbott watering trough, and was a haven for 
worshipers. Often here was entertained the Swiss 
missionary, Father Bapst: here too he came for 
refuge after his unhappy experience at Ellsworth. 

As only two or three men were assigned to this 
large territory, remote towns were visited by a priest 
once or possibly twice a year: among those who 
came were Fathers O'Sullivan and Moor: and the 
Jesuit priests, Bapst, Dunacre, Chiampi, Virgillinto, 
Eugene Vetromele and Michael Gallagher. 

The lot for the Catholic Church building was 
purchased from Mr. Sproul in 1851 and the church 
erected in 1853. It was Father Bapst, who at that 
time was residing at Oldtown and had this place, 
with Ellsworth, Cherrylield and Bucksport as his 
mission, who was instrumental in building the 
church: he also presented it with the copy of 
Raphael's masterpiece which till a few years ago 
hung over the altar. 

The first resident priest was the Reverend 
Father Jeremiah McCarthy now of Houlton, Maine. 
Others were Fathers Duddy and Coffy and to-day 
the Reverend Father P. J. Garrity ministers to the 
parish which includes Winterport, Frankfort and 
Bucksport. 



First and Last. 223 

The Reverend Father John Bapst was born in 
LaRoche, a village of the canton of Fribourg, 
Switzerland, December 1815. He studied at the 
college of Fribourg, entered the novitiate of Su- 
perior Jesuits in 1835. He was ordained a priest 
in 1 848, and two years later came to America where 
he was assigned all the missions of Maine and 
resided at Eastport on the border. 

From 1 848 to 1 85 1 , at the request of the Bishop 
of Boston, he was placed in charge of the Indian 
mission at Oldtown and was assisted for a time by 
Father Chiampi. Some of the old squaws still 
remember him : one, of how ** he married me " or 
*' use try teach us leetle English." There has been 
no resident priest on the Island since he left, altho 
it was under the care of the Jesuits till '55. 

In 1 853 Father Bapst moved to Bangor and was 
placed in charge of the eastern missions, living there 
till '59. His work took him to Machias, to Water- 
ville and to the river towns. It was at this time 
that he met with the treatment at Ellsworth which 
nearly cost him his life. 

One dark, cold and dismal night, he was seized 
by a mob of fanatics, robbed of his watch, dragged 
to a shipyard, tarred, feathered and left in this 
wretched condition. He recovered enough to crawl 
to a house nearby, was taken In by the owner, a 



224 An Old River Town. 

Protestant, and cared for by him: when the mob 
came again he was ready to defend the priest at 
the cost of his own Hfe. 

It was on his way back to Bangor that Father 
Bapst sought refuge with the Haley family: and on 
his return to the city, the merchants and citizens 
called an indignation meeting at City Hall, de- 
nouncing the outrage. 

For a long time the owners of vessels hailing 
from Ellsworth changed the hailing name, so that 
they would not be known in other parts. When 
in 1862, he went to Boston to become Rector of 
Boston College, and later pastor of the Church of 
the Immaculate Conception, he was hailed as the 
" gentle Swiss missionary who had suffered the out- 
rages in Maine " and whom " cultivated Boston, 
feeling shame for its northern kindred, received 
kindly and his character soon won him the friend- 
ship of eminent citizens." 

He died in Baltimore in 1887 and a brother 
priest who knew him personally in his later years, 
says he was loved by all who knew him and who 
came in contact with him. 

A tribute to him in the younger years of his work 
is no less beautiful, that " he was beloved by all 
people, not only of his own flock, but by those of 
all denominations." 



First and Last. 225 

He is spoken of tenderly by the little girl for 
whom he would wash dishes if she cut his day's 
allowance of tobacco, and after the work was done, 
as a surprise a lump of maple sugar from his pocket, 
was slipped into her hand. 

He is spoken of tenderly by the old man, who 
on a terribly cold night, the last of the old year, 
went to Bangor to ask him to drive thirteen miles 
and minister the last rites to the dying. He never 
refused to relieve suffering. Yet, forgetful of self, 
on that night of his cruel treatment at Ellsworth, he 
could not be persuaded to take nourishment, lest he 
break the fast prescribed to be observed between 
midnight and the hour for celebrating mass. 

Aided by his parishioners in Bangor, he had 
erected a large church, of which one of them said: 
" When you go to Bangor next time, and see the 
spire of St. John's Catholic Church pointing heaven- 
ward, think kindly of him." This is his monument. 

TTie well-known churchyard of other New Eng- 
land towns is not to be found in old Frankfort. 
As the church was the last public building to be 
put up, how could there be a churchyard? Homes 
were remote and each family generally laid its own 
to rest in a corner of the field or wood lot. To- 
day slate stones stand or lie on farms and are hard 
to find unless some one knows the way. They are 



226 An Old River Town. 

scattered; the burial place of Jane Prince Good- 
win; the few stones of the Kemptons at Oak Point; 
the Ide burying-ground in the field at New Frank- 
fort; the Grant lot out by the stream: this seemed 
a common custom. 

At the Cove, on the hillside, lie two little ones, 
the children of Mr. Sullivan. They had died of 
scarlet fever and he came up from Castine on a 
furlough, put the little ones in a rough box and 
buried them on his farm, the first cemetery in town. 

There was no general burial place till John Oak- 
man gave to the town a half acre of land, which 
was to be fenced in. This was on Oakman hill 
and to that part of the cemetery have been added 
new lots: old fences with their inscriptions, or gates 
bearing daguerreotypes have disappeared: old trees, 
iron and chain fences and the time-silvered picket 
fences have dropped apart. Now the beautiful spot 
takes in Oak Hill and Memorial Park. There 
stands a high granite shaft, as much a monument to 
him whose thought and generosity presented it to the 
town, as to the brave men who went from the town 
to the front in '61. 

It was the gift of the Honorable Theophilus Gush- 
ing and its dedication in September, 1 87 1 , will long 
be remembered. From far and near the people 
came and a thousand were fed on the hill that day. 



First and Last. 227 

The speaker of the day was Colonel Thomas 
Wentworth Higginson, who gave an eloquent and 
thrilling address. At the close of his oration Mr. 
Cushing made the presentation speech and the gift 
was feelingly accepted for the town by Elisha Arey, 
first selectman. Mr. Higginson told the donor that 
he had never seen so much bunting in all his life. It 
was draped from one end of town to the other. 

The bronze tablets on the sides of the monument 
bear fitting sentiments and the names of the men 
who went to war from the town. 

A volume might be written about the men from 
this town who served their country: about this or 
that company; about the men who were at Little 
Round Top, at Shiloh or Gettysburg; about those 
who suffered in rebel prisons; of him who to-day 
wears a medal of honor for his bravery, the little 
man who captured the rebel flag from its height; of 
women who sewed and picked lint and packed 
boxes; of the young ladies who knit socks and sent 
them to the boys. They are the story of every com- 
munity. 

The town books show how Lincoln's repeated 
calls for Volunteers were received and it is a pity 
that the vote cast soon after the war to preserve care- 
ful records of our part in it was not carried out. 



228 An Old River Town. 

But the spirit of the men and their resolutions still 
live — " We desire to ignore all minor differences 
and divisions of the past and rally round our com- 
mon country." 

THE END. 



APPENDICES. 



Appendices. 



231 



en 
i-r 
w 

(fX 

en 
W 
> 



W 

CO 

< 

w 

Q ^ 

H 
O 

M S 

n •iHonvaa 



CO 



5 S 

2 S 
* c 

C tn 

*^ 

CC o srj 
►5 H 



P.2 S^ 



0! 



in C ' 






SU4 






rr* (II 






CO <n 



O . u 41 

^ c^ fc ?^ 5 

« * s 



o •« o 

,1-. rV en 

S! (=5 1) 



O „* = 



C< 11 >-• i-> 



CO •-< ON O ro 

■•iMriT <y>vO •^ ON •- 



^.9^ ^ 






d^ 



McO 



in S 
C C 



CO 



o 



fa H 



^^ 


. . 


^' 








faS 




u 

fa 


_4 






On NO 


Tt O 


ONfO 


"~. o 


ID t>. 


lO^ 








O 







ciJ S 

e 3 
<J<3 



13 



n cq 



V tn 

4) .™ 

^4 






fa 






CI "3 

5 rt « 
S ti u 

<<< 



S? E 3 



232 



Appendices. 



C5 



w 

Q 

< 

H 

Pi 
O 

< 

< 

H 
i-J 
I— I 
t3 
W 

cn 

W 
03 

to 



x';2 



W' 






•NHH^ 



•SNOX 



•aNi;^ 



3 


"3 


^3 


,__ 


<LI 


OJ 




■r cn 




■^ U3 


CJ 


03 W 


S 




3 


V ^ 



P3 



lU 

< 

da s E 






^ - 


^ 


_ , 


!2- 


C 


■* * 


rt 
S 


2 






rO 


Ov rO 




VO 


iO Tt 



- - ^ - ^~^ 



S « 2 



<;tL, 



E 

. 3 



fo 



rt £ c8 



M M M M >H >-t 00 



a. • cx cu -ho 
.s .y •? -5 o I- : 




<:<pq pqwmwMCUUCJUOCjQQWWKW 



0) V 

K n nJ 



en e «) 

►. 5 u 

« 2 cl 

2 "^ 









Appendices. 



>^ 


n 






«s 






•<* 








CO 




>^ 






•S I* 








3 - 






0) 


^ C 


o 




> 


lU^ 


p^ 






rt 


* 




< 






d 


d 


tf 


a 


O 


u 



c ■ 



1-^ 



E • da 

5 «ii S 



c^: 



233 



a. 



pii^feUi 



> 










w : 








<S8 ' 








G : 








2 -^ 


CT 












c H 




"c 




3'- 


•-" 


a 




c 




!5 


P 












x'- 






' 






U^ 






s 


r^ 




tn^ t 


VO 






jovo vo 









Q -■ VO 
OV IN C« 



CO 






lU ^ ' 






rt ;:J 



S - 3 y 

!= rt rt >; 






rt 



w 



J^- H 



H rt H 

•^"rt ^'SD g^.g. 

3 1- i; <n ^ t 






3.2 



3 
>3 ^ 






_^ ,< O rt . . 



too a 






Ji = 3 



3 
.3 rt 

o o 






3 -S"e^«' 



[^ ji3 



234 



Appendices. 






a 
» 

c 
I 

w 
< 
« 

Q 
<5 

o 

p^ 
M 

Pi 

Ph 
H 

« 

05 
hJ 
W 

CO 
CO 

W 
> 



6 
U 


a. 




-M 




■tj 


■M 


2 


;] 


«fl 


1 


: ^ 




d 




U 






<si 



^ 



Q g 



P^ 



Spt; 



■ja. - 



•NHHyYV 



•iHonvaQ 



•SNOi 



•QNI^ 



'^ -rt IT) O 



a ■ c3 



OPt^ 



p:^ 



coco 



0\ O >-l M C4 









o pq CO 
CO ^ 



<" k s 



(^ 



2 bo s o ja 

(U rt ca . nj ca cti pj 



13 






^ CO 



2 : 

"o : 

o . 

o . 



c 2 
o C 



pa w 



.- . O >^ 

oo.tr30(uooQ. 
Pi p^ p^ pej Pij p^ pj p^ CO 



Appendices. 



235 











S 








>n^ 








m 


St 














Id 


u 
S 






CO a! 








o 








a"« 












g: 




!:l-<^ 








(U 


O^ 


o 












1 


1 


^ 




5^^ 








c 
o 

4-I 




(>0 

.H 




0.3 








*3 




ui 




a* 








PQ 




* 








4> 






















































.a 
















t^ 


^ 
















^ 


^ 


E 


: 




1' 




; 


<-> 


11 









j3 








.1 


1 










• 4^ • 














« 


. Im 




• • 


t: 




|4 




• 


•'cu • 




• • 


c 




o 




• 


' u 










<*1 






'.S-^' 




a Am 


- A 


M 


, 


jj 


• *^ <n " 




en u] 


a 




a 




M 


■.a^ 




u u 
CO ea 


^ 




» 


tii^s 


fe 


SS 


P^ 


S 


^ 
S 




^ 


fO Q OOO 




io\o 




^ 

^ 


O^ W 


ON 


yjoB 5^y> 


vp 


^ 




w y> 


^ 



PQ 



O VO t^OO 



lO O 
O fO 



CO 



cr .S4 cr^ 

oq P3cqm 






1^ 
eg 



i3;;5 ?• b R 01 

.^ T3 > 5 H ^, 

CO W C/J W W CO H ►-.H I 






•fl o 

c 12 S "" 

.t: .t: .•:: v 



SOURCES OF INFORMATION. 

Abbott Diary, 1805. 

Abbott's History of Maine. 

Acadia, Whipple. 

Account of the Rise and Fall of Methodism in Hamden Circuit 

American Lloyd's Shipping Register, i867-'76. 

" Navigation, W. W. Bates. 
Ancient Dominions of Maine, 1859, R. K. Sewall. 
Avery Genealogy. 

Bancroft's History of the United States. 
Bangor Historical Magazine. 
Brewer's Journal of Penobscot Indians. 
Bucksport Town Records. 

Chadwick Survey Chart. 

China Collectors in America, Alice Morse Barle. 

Commercial House Registers. 

Commissioner's Report of Maine. 

Coolidge and Mansfield's History of Maine, i860. 

Court Records of Boston, 1699- 1723, 1746-49, 53-55. 57-76. 

Description of New England Towns, 1859, Coolidge and Mans- 
field. 
Diary of Francis Le Baron Goodwin. 

" " Seth Noble, Bangor. 
Dictionary of American Biography, Drake. 
Discovery of the Penobscot River, Archibald Jones. 
Drake's Book of Indians, 1833. 
Davis, Honorable William, Plymouth. 

Furniture of the Olden Time, Frances Clary Morse. 
Genealogical Register, 1853. 

237 



238 Sources of Information. 

Geographical Names of Coast Survey, C. S. Report, 1868, Rev. 
Edward Ballard. 

Hancock County Deeds. 

Harlan and Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware. 
Herrick's Field Note Book, 1808. 
History of Belfast, Williamson. 

History of Castine, Penobscot and Brooksville, George Augustus 
Wheeler. 

" " Catholic Church in the New England States. 

" " Frankfort, MSS., Archibald Jones. 

" *' Maine, Williamson. 

" " Massachusetts, Hutchinson, 

*' " Merchant Shipping, 1816-1874, W. S. Lindsay. 

" " Methodism in Maine, 1887, Chas. E. Nash, 

" " the Mission of the United Brethren Among the In- 
dians in New England, 1794. 
Historical Register of Officers of the Revolution, Heitman. 

" Sketch of Frankfort, E. Parker Treat. 

Homes of Family Names, H. B. Guppy. 
Home Life in Colonial Days, Alice Morse Earle. 

Letters of Francis Le Baron Goodwin. 

" " Kempton Family. 
Life of Col. Paul Revere, Goss. 

" " Count Rumford, George D. Ellis. 
Lincoln County Deeds. 

List of Merchant Vessels for the United States. 
Lloyd's Shipping Register. 

Map of the Town of Frankfort, 1855, D. S. Osbom. 
Memoirs of Champlain, 1804. 
Monroe Town Record. 

Newspapers. 

Bangor Register, 1819. 
Christian Herald, 1845. 
Frankfort Gazette, 1855. 
Volunteer, 1863. 
Waldo Gazette, 1839. 



Sources of Information. 239 

Official Record of Union and Confederate Navies in the War of 

the Rebellion, 1862. 
Old Account Books. 

" Deeds. 

•' Paths and Legends of New England, Katharine Abbott. 

Old Tombstones at Frankfort. 

"Oak Hill Cemetery. 
" Private Yards. 
" Plymouth. 

Prospect Town Records. 

" Publishments. 

" Weather Report. 
Probate Records of Lincoln County, 1760-1800. 
Peter's Field Notes— First Survey of Penobscot River. 

Record of Congregational Church. 
Report of Earl Tax Collectors. 
Revised Statutes of Maine. 

Shipmasters' Association Report. 
Soldiers of the American Revolution, C. J. House. 
Some Colonial Homesteads, Marion Harlan. 
Sullivan's History of the District of Maine, 1795. 

Travels in New England, President Dwight of Yale. 

True Story of Paul Revere, Chas. Ferris Guttemy. 

Two Centuries of Costume in America, Alice Morse Earle. 

Varney's Gazetteer, 1886. 

Waymouth Tercentenary, Maine Historical Society. 
Winterport Town Record. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Abbott, Charles, 133, 207 ; Daniel, 
130, 133; Edmund Lord, 129- 
133, 140; Edmund, Jr., 25, 133; 
Harriett Newell, xi, 158. 

Abbott Family, 133. 

Abbott Place, 25, 130, 131, 158. 

Abenakis, 31. 

Acadia, extent of, i ; taken by 
French, 20. 

Act, Non-Importation, 64. 

Adams Frigate, 54. 

Adams, Samuel, 18, 127. 

Agoncy, 19. 

Alden, John, 157. 

Algonquin Country, 31 ; language, 

45- 
Allen Island, 20. 
American Fleet, 115; navigation, 

65. 
Ames, Joseph, 10. 
Andrews, Mary, 56, 174 ; \Yilliam, 

56, 131 ; William, Jr., 65. 
Andrews, Ware & Dean, 55, 63. 
Anthony, Mr. 212. 
Archangel Fitted Out, 20. 
Arey, Elisha, 227; Joseph, 190. 
Arey & Williams, 186. 
Ash for Baskets, 42-3. 
Atwood, Benjamin, 107 ; Henry, 

94; John, 94; Joshua, 94; Miss, 

135; Nathaniel, 94 ; Thomas, 94. 
Austin, Jane, 117. 
Avery, Grandmother, 157-8 ; 

Hannah, 158; Thatcher, 15S. 

Bacon House, 118; tree, 104. 
Bagwaduce, 35. 
Baker, Moses, 163. 
Balch, Dr. Horatio, 35. 



Bangor, 2, 35, 46, 79- . 

Bangor Steam Navigation Co., 

76, 77- 
Bangor, The Old, 76-8. 
Bapst, Rev. John, 213, 222-5. 
Baron St. Castine, 32. 
Barter, 55. 

Bartlett, Capt, 13; Lydia, 129. 
Baskets : bunnit, 41 ; weaving, 

42. 
Bauld Hill Cove, 17, 40, 49. 
Bauld Hill Reach, 49. 
Bay Path, Hollands, 62. 
Beaches, 48. 
Beads, Indian, 39. 
Bears in Woods, 97. 
Beaver Dam, 197. 
Belches Homestead, 170. 
Belfast, Bay of, 7. 
Belfast, Me., 4, 6, 8, 9, 98, 102, 

105, 108. 
Billings, Elmira, 137 ; Polly, 134- 

7- 
Black, Henry, 5, 9 ; Henry, Jr., 

10. 
Black's Comer, 112. 
Blaine, James G., 169. 
Blaisdell, Ehenezer, 16, 82, 94, 

163, 164; K. Ferrin, 94, 207. 
Blaisdell Family, 94; house. 94, 

164. 
Blanchard, Rev. Mr., 220. 
Blue Loon, The, 66. 
Bodwell, Gov., 169. 
Bof, 64. 

Boiler, Drop Flue, 78. 
Bolan, James, 82,94. lojl J^""' 

16, 29, 86. 
Bolan Bridge, 103. 



241 



242 



Appendices. 



Bolton, Rev. Mr,, 216. 

Bone and Muscle Society, 70, 

186. 
Bonnets; Bleached, 172; Dun- 
stable, 173; Meeting, 177. 
Book I'lates, 58. 
Booms, Breaking of, 28 ; for logs, 

180. 
Boston, Mass., 27, 34, 50, 62, 64, 

126. 
Boundaries : of counties, 47 ; old 

lines, 11. 
Bowdoin, Mrs. Anne, 106; Gov. 

James, 10, 18; Robert, 182. 
Box Stove, 57. 
Boyd, Joseph, 10. 
Bradford, (Gamaliel, 120. 
Brick Yard, Oak Point, 51. 
Brigadier's Island, 5, 9. 
Brinston, Gt. Britain, 60. 
Brooks, Noah, 25. 
Buck, Jonathan, 23. 
Buck's Ledge, 49. 
Bucksport, Me., 11, 17, 22, 47, 48, 

222. 
Bugles, 39. 
Buoys, 49. 

Burying-Grounds, 225-6. 
Bussy, Benjamin, 219. 

Calash, 177. 

Galley, Capt. Richard, 50. 

Camden, Me., 52. 

Candles: boxes, 180; making, 
173; tables, 155. 

Canoe, Use of, 62. 

Cape Breton Islands, 20. 

Captains : landowners, 82 ; post- 
men, 81 ; titles, 80; young, 95. 

Captains Courageous, 63. 

Car, a Vehicle, 102. 

Carleton John, 89, 114. 

Carleton's Corner, 106. 

Carres, Capt., 60. 

Castine Gaol, 99. 

Castine, Me., 47, 52, 98, 157. 

Catamawawa Stream, 37. 

Caterpillar Hill, 199. 

Cemeteries (see Burying- 
Grounds). 



Cemetery, Oak Hill, 184, 226. 

Chadbourne, Sumner, 210. 

Chiampi, Father, 213. 

Chain Factory, 182. 

Chaise, First, 93. 

Champlain, 25, 31. 

Charter, Provincial, 2. 

Chick Common, loi, 171 ; House, 
167. 

Chick, Elisha, 173; Harriet New- 
ell, 133. 

Childs, Capt. Arthur, 65. 

China, Avery, 158-9; care of, 158; 
Belches, 159. 

Churches: Baptist, 220-1; Cath- 
olic, 221 ; Congregational, 215- 
20; Methodist, 213-15; North- 
West Union Society, 139. 

Churchill, Capt. Jesse, 124. 

Cincinnati, Society of, 121, 126. 

Circus, 200-1. 

Clapboards, Rift, 55. 

Clark, Joe, 201. 

Clark's Hall, 112, 201. 

Cleford, Jacob, 9; John, 9; Na- 
thaniel, ID. 

Clewley, Isaac, 10. 

Clifford, Odin, 184. 

Clippers, 73. 

Closets, Kinds of, 166. 

Coasters, 62. 

Cobb, David, 8, 11, 218. 

Coburn. Mr. 147. 

Cocoa, Story of, 54. 103, 104. 

Coffin, Paul, 92, 213. 

Colburn, Thomas, 220. 

Cole's Corner, 106. 

Collins, Anna, 85. 

Colson, Eben, 50; Hatevil, 12, 
no. III, 122; Ichabod, 12; 
James, 12; Josiah, 212; Wil- 
liam, 83. 

Comical Hrown, 201. 

Commercial House, 47, 112, 200. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
2. 

Congregational Society, 220. 

Coopering Business, the, 54, 
184. 

Cooper Shops, 53. 



General Index. 



243 



Cotton, John, 117. 

CouUiard John, 24 ; Joshua, 98 ; 
Kennev, 98. 

Coulliard's Ferry, 98. 

Counties: Hancock, 9, 13; Lin- 
coln, 4, 6, 18 ; Penobscot, 33, 
46; Waldo, 2, 18, 46, 140, 
York, 3, 17. 

Counties of Maine, 17. 

Cove or North Frankfort, 11, 17, 

'34- 

Coves: Atwood's, 49; Kemp- 
ton's, 49, 164; Kenney's, 49; 
Oak Point, 49; Indian buried 
there, 38. 

Cox, Mr, 109. 

Crary, James, 5. 

Crockett, George, 185, 186. 

Cunningham, Capt., 61. 

Curtis, James, 100. 

Cushing, Ben, 218; Theophilus, 
47. 79. '79> 'So, 226. 

Custom House, 79 ; Officers, 79 ; 
Reports, 79. 

Damon, Ernest, 145. 
Davis, I)aniel, 35-0. 
Dawes, Thomas, n. 
Dean, Bradford, 107 ; Tisdale, 55, 

58,141. 
Dean House, 56. 
Delano, Capt., 60. 
De Mong, i, 20. 
De Silver, Mr., 2c6. 
Devil's Punch Bowl, 196-7. 
Dewey, William, 53. 
Dillingham, Caroline B., 129. 
Dining-Room, An Old, 160. 
Dogs, family, 176. 
Doors, 167-70. 
Dory, 62. 
Douglas, Jack, 108,202-7; Mary, 

204-6. 
Downes, Paul, 14, 114, 163. 
Drachm Point, 47, 48, 147. 
Dresden, Me., 3. 
Driftwood, 28. 

Dudley, George, 79; house, 170. 
Dugout, 62. 
Dummer Treaty, 32-3. 



Dunham, Arabella, 148; George. 

72, 148, 186; Isaac, 72, 1S6. 
Dunton, Guvanus, 12; house, 

167. 
Dutch, Capt. John, 61. 
Dwelly, John, 9. 
Dwyer, Capt., 69. 

Ellis, Barah, 5. 

Ellsworth Records, 18. 

Elm Trees, 107, 179. 

Elssler, Fanny, Danseuse, 205. 

Emery, Simeon, 213. 

English : alarmed at French, 20; 
attempt to colonize Maine, 47 ; 
claim New England soil, 21 ; 
conference with Indians, 33. 

Esquire, Title of, 138. 

Eustis, Jacob, 5, 10. 

Eveleth, Helen Louise, xii; Jo- 
seph, 184. 

Fan, Old, 81. 

Farley, William, 10. 

Farragut, D. G., 150-1. 

Fernald, Edward, 183. 

Ferrin, Aunt Hannah, 172. 

Ferry, 63, 99. 

Ferrymen, Early, 98, 100, 

Field Books, 16. 

Fireside, Dean, 56-7. 

Flat Rock Falls, 17, 37. 

Fletcher, Elijah, 142 ; Grace, 142 ; 

Richard, 142, Thomas, 5. 
Flying Dutchman, 73. 
Folsom & Lindsey, 182. 
Fort Point, 4, 24 ; burial of Waldo 

there, 2. 
Forts; French, 4; Gorges, 24; 

Knox, 179; Pownall, 2, 12, 23. 
Fortune-Telling, 43. 
Vox Islands, 13. 
Frankfort Flats, 48. 
Frankfort Fortress, 3. 
Frankfort, Me., xi, 1-9, 13, 16, 24, 

30, 40, 49, 52, 54.65-6, 178, 200, 

213, 215, 221-2, 225. 
Frankfort-on-the-Main, 11. 
French Forfeit New England, 23; 

Fort of Norombequc, 19; 



244 



Appendices. 



manuscripts, 24; "renegade," 
23 ; rule in Acadia, 3 ; scholar 
Thevet, 19; spied on by Eng- 
lish, 20. 

French, Zethan, 5. 

Frothingham, Rev. E., 218. 

Gage, Governor, 18. 

G. A. R. Hall, 201. 

Garrity, Father P. J., 222. 

Gibbs, Sara, 50-1. 

Giles Memorial, 91. 

Goff, 16. 

Gondola. 62. 

Goodell, Daniel, 5; Daniel, Jr., 9, 

Goodwin, Chandler Robbins, 129, 
216; Delphina Frances, 83, 
129; Francis LeBaron, 12, 16, 
26, 29, 115-29, 176, 214; Francis 
LeBaron, Jr., 124; 128, 129; 
Jane Prince, 122, 127-9 > Laz- 
arus, 126, 129; Nathaniel, 116, 
ii8-2r, 129; Reuben, 12; Will- 
iam LeBaron, 129. 

Goose Pond, 4, 9. 

Gorton, Mr., 123. 

Goshen, 17, Goshen Hoad, 98, 
107. 

Grand River, 19. 

Grant, Adam, 88-9, 209; Eph- 
raim, 16, 24, 88, 90-1, 105, 131, 
209, 217; James, 6, 10; Sam- 
uel, 10; William, 88. 

Grant's Ledge, 217. 

Grants: Lincolnshire, 2; Mus- 
congus, 2 ; Waldo, 2. 

Grant's Mills, 116. 

Green, Dr. 136. 

Greenleaf, Mr., 159. 

Griffing, Ebenezer, 5, 9; Samuel, 
5, 10; Samuel, Jr., 5; William, 5. 

Groce, Mr., 123. 

Guide Board, 11, 37. 

Gypsies, 207. 

Hackensack, 120. 

Hale, Eugene, 169. 

Haley, Charles M., 129; Frank 

W., 54, 129, Mary, xii; Millie 

C, 129, Tobias, 16. 



Hall, Joshua, 213; Mollie, 182; 

Mr., 212. 
Hamilton, Alexander, 142. 
Hamlin, Hannibal, 169. 
Hampden, Battle of, 104-5. 
Hampden, Me., 2, 17, 24, 46, 79, 

214. 
Hancock, Governor, ii, 18. 
Hardy's Point, 40, 43, 48-9, i8o. 
Harlan & Hollingsworth, 77-8. 
Hayes, Rev. S. N., 199, 220. 
Hay Pressing, 184. 
Heath, 33. 
Hegan, John, 114. 
Herrick, Clara, 136; Gen. Jed- 

dediah, 135-6; Seth, 13, 14. 
Hersey, Major, 112. 
Higgins, Capt., 158; Joe, 189-94. 
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 

227. 
High Head, 24, 38, 197. 
High Tide, 184. 
Hills: Cushing's, 105; Camden, 

92 ; Christian, 105 ; Guide 

Board 37, 105; Jackson, 105; 

Meeting House, 148 ; Punch 

Bowl, 195-7 ; Sabine, 105 ; 

Shaw's, 105; Sproul's, 105; 

Thayer's, 105. 
Hinkley, Jerusha, 214-15. 
Hitchborn, William, 6, 10. 
Hog Island Road, 62. 
Holbrook, Aaron, 137; Mr., 201. 
Holbrook's Hall, 201. 
Holler, The, 106. 
Holmes, Peter, 123. 
Holy Roman Empire, Count of, 

144. 
Houses: Blaisdell, 163; Dean, 

56; Doten, 163; first, 162-4; 

hip-roof, 167, 170 ; location, 163 ; 

Rich, 163 ; Sabine, 136 ; Stubb>, 

163. 
Howe, Lord, 144. 
Hoxie, Mr., 39. 
Hudson River, 20. 
Hussey, John F., 184. 

Ice, 28. 

Incorporation Act, ii ; Frank- 



General Index. 



245 



fort, 4-6 ; Plantations, 8 ; 
Town, 10. 

Indian Names : 25, 32, 36, 37, 40, 
42. 

Indians : Algonquins, 31 ; camps, 
42; Canadian, 33; captives to 
England, 21 ; buryingground, 
38-9; conference at Hampden, 
24 ; Custom in names, 44 ; de- 
clared rebels, 34, dress, 43 ; 
giant's graves, 37 ; go up and 
down river, 22; pipes, 30; Pen- 
obscots peaceful, 34 ; Salmon 
Weir, 29 ; supplies received, 
36; Tarratines, 24, 31 ; traces 
of, 31 ; treatment of prisoners, 
32, 34 ; tribes reduced, 45; war 
declared against, 34. 

Inscription on Ring, 26. 

James I, 2. 
James, Miles, 26. 
Jepson, Loren. 190. 
Jewell, Rev. Mr., 216. 
Johnson, Mine Host, 112. 
Johnson, Deacon Tommy, 88 ; 

place, 86. 
Johnston, Capt., 82 ; Elizabeth 

Dean, 58 ; Miller, 50, 86-8 ; 

Thomas, 88. 
Jones, Archibald, 16, 24, 139-41, 

182 ; Catharine, 141 ; Elmira, 

141 ; Erasmus Archibald, 141- 

44 ; Sara Maria, 141. 

Kaler, James Otis, 146, 150; 
Maria, 146; Otis, 146. 

Keeping Room, 124, 166. 

Kelley, Albert, 3, 47, 138 ; Albert 
Livingston, 141 ; Fitzroy, 144 ; 
Frank, xii, 143 ; Israel Web- 
ster, 141 ; John, 141 ; Rebecca 
Fletcher, 142; Robert, 141; 
Silas, 143. 

Kelley Homestead, 170. 

Kempton, Capt., 63-4, 82-5; 
Charles, 27, 124 ; John, 12, 14, 
36, 50, 63, 82, 122 ; Nathaniel, 
61 ; Samuel, 63. 



Kennebeck, 24, 90. 
Kennebeck River, 3, 20, 21, 33. 
Kenney, Simeon. 164. 
Killman, Frank, 68, 71; Robert; 

71- 
King, William, 18. 
Knees, 55. 

Knitting, Children's, 175. 
Knocker, 58. 
Knox, General, 3, 10. 
Knoxburg, 9, 10. 
Knoxbury, 5, 10. 

Landings, Boat, 49-51. 

Lane, Ketsy. 173; Mr., 122. 

Larrabee, Isaiah, 94 ; Sewell, 94. 

Lathlin, io6. 

LeBaron, Francis, 116-17; 129; 

Lazarus, 1 17-19, 129; Lydia, 

116, 129. 
Lee, Jesse, 99, 213. 
Leonard, Mrs., 124. 
Lett visited by Westbrook, 21. 
Levingston, 32. 
Lewes, Capt., 60. 
Libraries. Old, 57 ; Public, 58. 
Little, James. 183; Laura, 218; 

Mr., 52. 
Littlefield, Moses, 12, 114. 
Livermore, Esq., 16. 
Living Rooms, 163, 166. 
Lombard, Anna, 85; Timothy, 

82, 85 ; Widow, 14. 
Lombard Family of Girls, 86. 
Lombard Homestead, 164. 
Longfellow, Alexander, 47, 144; 

Henry W., 25, Ii8; Stephen, 

142. 
Lord, Abigail, 130, 133; Henry, 

10; Job, 216. 
Lord & Eveleth, 184. 
Lossing, Benson J., 39. 
Lougee, C. R., 109. 
Low, 12, 16, 41; Will H., 25. 
Lowe's Brook, 12, 41, 51, 197- 
Lumber Car, 102. 
Lumber Products, 52, 55. 

Madisonian Republicanism, 64. 
Maine, 17, 20, 22. 



246 



Appendices. 



Malcolm, James, i6. 

Mansfield, Henry, 94; William, 

94. 203. 
Manter, Doctor, 197. 
Marble. Governor, 169. 
Marsh Bay, 2. 12, 21, 47, 48; 

River, 4, 9; Stream, n. 
Martin, John, 16; Joseph, 8, 10. 
Martin's Folly, 108. 
Mc(^arthy, Rev. Jeremiah, 222. 
McGlathty, Charles, 93; William, 

16, 24, 52, 82, 92-3. 
Mcl.aughlin, William, 10. 
McMann, Joseph, 2, 9; Thomas, 

10. 
Menhegin, 62. 
Merchant Marine, 63, 65-6. 
Merrill, Albert, 139; Chandler, 

139, Jonathan, 94; Samuel, 

138-9. 
Merritt. Timothy, 213-14. 
Methodist Society, 215. 
Milliken, Alexander, 54 ; Seth, 

169. 
Missionaries, French, 32. 
Mitchell, Joe, 37, 43; Dr. Joe, 43. 
Mitchell P'amily, 44. 
Modockawando, 24, 25, 32. 
Mogg Megone, 25. 
Monroe, Me., 2, 17. 
Monument, Soldiers', 184, 226-7. 
Moody, Daniel, 129; Joseph, 53. 
Moore, Charlotte, 133. 
Morgan, Seth H., 46. 
Morse, Lieut., 103. 
Mountains, 17, 92, 104, 147, 179, 

196. 
Mudge, Enoch, 90, 103, 128, 213- 

'S- 
Mudgett, Abraham, 9. 

Nameless Nobleman, 1 16-17. 

New Boston, 3. 

New Bridge Camp, 119. 

Newburgh, 6. 

New England : named, 2 ; soil 

claimed, 2t. 
New Ireland County, 47. 
Newspapers, 30, 35, 152, i86. 
Nichols, Benjamin, 163; David, 



5, 10; James, y, James, Jr., 5, 

10 ; lames 2nd, 10. 
Norombega, a Fabled Fort, 25. 
Norombequc River, 19. 
North America F^xplored by 

The vet. 19. 
Northwest Passage Sought by 

Weymouth, 20. 

Oakman, Capt.. i^ 27, 49, 82: 
Olive, 145; Tobias, 12. 87, 145, 
212; John. 226; Maria, 146; 
Mr., 139. 

Oak Point, il, 13, 27, 38, 49, 50, 

63.83,85. IIS, '59.225. 

Oak Point Cove, 50. 
Oaks, The, 88, 107, 198. 
Odam, John, 5, 10; John, Jr., 9. 
Oldtown, 22, 33, 40, 43, 45. 
Oney, Mary, 204. 
Orangetown, 119. 
Orono, Me., 32. 
Orrington, Me., 17, 214. 
Oxen in Service, 102. 
Oxford War, 142. 

Packet Service, 73, 94. 

Page, Mr., 176; VVilliam, 164. 

Park. John, 5. 10. 

Parker, Alden, 76; J., 90. 

I'artridge, Clark, 6, 10; David, 6, 
10. 

Paul Revere Bell, 219. 

Peabody, Doctor, 129. 

Peirce, Bailey, 220 ; Caroline, 143, 
John, 6, 10: Waldo, 143. 

Pendleton, Peleg, 5, 10; William, 
5, 10. 

Penobscot Circuit, 213. 

Penobscot Conference, 33. 

Penobscot Expedition, 115. 

Penobscot, Me., 12, 18, 23, 31, 34, 
47.96. 125. 

Penobscot River, i, 4, 6, 8, 9; 
ancient name of, 19; channel 
of, 47 ; depth, 46; described by 
Rosier, 20 ; early description 
of, 19; England takes posses- 
sion of, 23 ; entered by De 
Mong, 20 ; explored by Thevet, 



General Index. 



247 



19 ; picture of, 30; saltness, 46 ; 
stories it tells, 25, surveyed, 47 ; 
tide, 47. 

Penobscot Valley occupied by 
Indians, 31. 

Petition from Frankfort Planta- 
tion, 4, 8. 

Phillips, Samuel, 8. 

Phipps, Sir William, 18. 

Pike, John, 138, 143. 

Pilgrim Hall, 118. 

Pilgrims Welcomed, 21. 

Piscataqua River, 31, 190. 

Plymouth, 12, 21, 27, 59, 61, 117, 
157. 165. 

Porter, Rev. Charles G., 220. 

Poverty Shore, 203. 

Powers, Mrs., 218. 

Pownali, Governor, 2, 18, 21-24. 

Pownalboro, 3, 18. 

Pratt, Rev. George, 216. 

Prebble, Col. Jeddidiah, 22. 

Priests, Early, 213-22. 

Prize Ship Kertusof, 54. 

Prospect, Me., 6. 

Province of Maine, 2 ; Massa- 
chusetts Bay, 2, 18, 23. 

Punch Bowl, The, 195-9. 

Quilting Bees, 172. 

Reed. William, 187-8. 

Reed Place, The, 187. 

Revere, Paul, 116, 127. 

Rich, Caroline, 174, 212; Capt., 

82; Charles, 185; John, 94; J.. 

187; Lathly, 169, 179, 185-6; 

Nathaniel, 14, 94; Nehemiah, 

63, 94, 164; Reuben, 216; 

Widow, 14, 210. 
Rich Fleet, the, 186. 
Ricker, Mr., 210. 
Rider, Calvin, 217. 
Ring Found, 26, 183. 
Roads: Bridle, 98; first, 78; 

Goshen, 98; making, loi; old 

county, 101-2. 
Robbins, Chandler, 121 ; Jane 

Prince, 122, 127, 129. 
Robie, Governor, 169. 



Rosier, Historian, 20, 29. 
Rowe, Mr., 108. 
Rumford, Count, 144-5. 
Rundlett, Roger Sherman, 46. 

Sabine, Polly, 134-7; Elmira Bil- 
lings. 137; Simeon, 133-7. 

Salmon Fishing. 29. 

Sampson, Enoch, 16, 24, 35, 51, 
82. 91, 102, 122, 199. 

.Sampson House, 170, 199. 

Sampson's Ledge, 52. 

Sampson's Spring, 199. 

Sargent, Mr., 221. 

.Scannell, Alexander, 118. 

School House, 209; built, 210; 
" Old Brick," 210. 

School Masters, 209. 

Schools, 211. 

Scott, James, 10. 

Scourge, The, 77. 

Scouts, Voted For, 3. 

Scow Ferry, The, 63. 

Searsport, 6. 

Sears, Thorndyke & Prescott, 3, 

•3- 
Severe Winters, 27. 
Sewell, Parson, 213. 
Shad Fishing, 28. 
Shaw, Benjamin, 56, 105, 135, 

185; Mrs., 219. 
Shipbuilding, Decline of, 74; 

first, 50, 72; pioneers in, 82. 
Shipyards, 63, 66, 67, 178; Arey 

& Williams', 67, 74, 179. 186; 

Dunham's, 67. 72, 148. 186; J. 

Rich's, 179, 1S7 ; painting of, 

74 ; Treat & Go's., 67, 183. 
Shute, Benjamin, 5, 7 ; Benjamin, 

Jr., 6, 10 ; John, 203. 
Sierra Leone, First Governor of, 

97- 

Small, Rev. E. H., 216. 

Smelt Fishing, Anchor for, 190- 
i; camps, 190; law, 27; nets, 
190-4; open water in, 190; 
"strings of men," 192 ; through 
ice, 189; The Mushrats, 193. 

Smith, Capt. John, 2. 

Snow, John, 207. 



248 



Appendices. 



Snowshoes, Travel by, 97. 

Soft Soap, 171. 

Sowadabscook Stream, 24. 

Spearing, John, 109. 

Spinning Wheels, 173. 

Spooner, Esq., 122. 

Spotted Trees, 37, 83. 

Spring Tonic, 171. 

Springer, Rev. Mr., 216. 

Sproul, Amos, 94, 183 ; James, 
94 ; Mrs. John, 109. 

Sproul, Gushing & Kelley Co., 
182. 

Spruce Beer, 171. 

Squantum taken to England, 21. 

Square, The, 106. 

St. Castine, Baron, 24, 25 ; The 
Younger, 25. 

St. Croix, 47. 

St. George's Celebration, 21 ; 
visited by Westbrook, 22 ; 
truck house, 3 ; visited by 
Indians, 22. 

St. Helena sunk at Castine, 25. 

St. John's River fortified, 22. 

Stage Line, 108, 111-13, 185-6. 

Staples, John, 6; Jotham, 5; 
Miles, 5, to; William, 5, 10. 

State House, Boston, Corner 
Stone laid, 126. 

Steamboat Lines : Black Ball, 73 ; 
Boston & Bangor, S. S. Co., 
185; Eastern S. S. Co., 185; 
Cunard, 74 ; Sanford Indepen- 
dent, 185. 

Steamboats : Bangor, 76-8 ; first 
one on river, 76; City of Rich- 
mond, 184; Lady Lang, 184; 
Tarratine, 204; T. F. Secor, 
184. 

Steam Mill, 179-81. 

Stearns, Charles, 55. 

Steuben, Baron, 120. 

Stockton Springs, Me., 6. 

Story, Thomas, 209. 

Streets: Church, 198; Commer- 
cial, 106; Cowpath Lane, loi ; 
Dean, 185 ; Ferry, 46, 48, 55, 
91, 98 ; Holmes, 106, 180 ; 
Kaler, 146; Main, 106-9: 



Marine, 106; Mechanic, 106-7; 

Oak, 107; 180; Parsonage, 106; 

Washington, 49 ; Water, 107 ; 

Whig. 42, 106. 
Stubbs, Benjamin, 14, 114; Capt., 

51 ; David, 51 ; James, 14, 210; 

Joseph, 190. 
Sullivan, William, 114, 226. 
Swanville, 2. 
Sweet Grass, 41-2, 198. 
Sweetzer, John, 5, 9 ; John, Jr., 

10. 
Swett, Solomon, 214. 

Tapley, Sewell, 218. 

Tappan, Rev. S. S., 220. 

Tarratine Indians, 31. 

Taverns: Brick Inn, Boston, 127; 
Commercial House, 112; Cox's, 
143 ; keepers of, 108; Kemp- 
ton's, 112; Little, 170; Mar- 
tin's Folly, 108 ; Spearing's, 
109. 

Tebbets, Nathaniel, 10. 

Ten Proprietors' Grant, 2, 143; 
description of, 13; lots in, 14- 
16. 

Thames compared to Penobscot, 
20. 

Thatch Beds, 48. 

Thayer, Mr., 210. 

Thomas, Dr. William, 118. 

Thomaston Celebration, 21. 

Thompson, Arabella, 148-53 ; 
Benjamin, 140, 144-53, 169; 
Benjamin 2nd, 148; Hiram, 
Tobias, 94, 145, 168; William, 
72, 147. 

Thomdike, Mr., 54. 

Thurrell, Abigail, 88. 

Thurston, Richard, 220. 

Toby Tyler, 202. 

Town Meetings, 7, 103; on high- 
ways, 103; privileges of, 4, 
103. 

Town Records, xi. 

Trade, 94. 

Trails, Indian, 36, 83, 97. 

Training, 105. 

Trappers, 89. 



General Index. 



249 



Treat, Charles, 52-3; Ezra, 141; 

E. P. xii; James, 61, 69, 70; 

Joshua. 6, 9, 24 ; Lieut. Joshua, 

23. 24, 53; Joshua, Jr., 24; 

Upton, 141. 
Treat & Co., 52, 53, 66-9, 183, 

187. 
Treat Farm, 24. 
Treat's Point, 22, 47, 49, 179 
Treaties: Condeskeag, 35-6; 

Dummer, 32-3 ; Ghent, 64. 
Trees set out, 107. 
Trollop, Mrs., her books, 136. 
Tapper, Rev. T. B., 216. 

Union Meeting House, 215. 

Vessels, Building of, 84; carry 
passengers, 61 ; under English 
colors, 69, 70 ; transports, 68. 

Vessels, Names of : 28, 38, 48, 50, 
55, 56, 60-76, 85, 90, 91, 95, 
115, 147-52, 164, 180-87. 

Vetromele, Father, 213. 

Vinal, 14. 

Violin Book, 205. 

Violins, Jack Douglas', 205. 

Virgillinto, Father, 213. 

Vose, Thomas W., 210. 

Wadsworth, Peleg, 116, 118. 

Wager, Mr., 212. 

Waldo, General, 2. 

Waldo Patent, 2, 18, 46, 140. 

Wall Papers, 167-8. 

Wampum, 39. 

War : against Indians, 34 ; 

Aroostook, 112; Civil, 105; 

181 2, 54 ; Oxford, 142. 
Wardwell, Joseph, 14. 
Ware, Alice, 131-2 ; Dr. William, 

Warming Pan, 57. 

Washburn, Philo, 138, 143,176; 

Homestead, 170. 
Washington, George, 103, 119. 
Watering Trough, The, 217. 



Webster, Daniel, 142-4 ; Eze- 
kiel, 142. 

Wedding Dress, 175-6. 

Weilding, Eben, 123. 

Wellman, Jubilee, 220. 

Welles, Hon. Gideon, 150. 

Westbrook, Thomas, 21, 33. 

Weymouth, George, i, 20. 

West Point Huts, 120. 

Wharfs : construction of, 178 
Cooper Shop, 54 ; Dean's, 55, 
179, 184 ; Eveleth's, 47, 55, 
188 ; Eastern Steamship Co's 
52, 187 ; Ferry, 185, i' 
Kempton's, 50, 51, 83; I^dy 
Lang, 184 ; Lathly Rich's, 179 
Lindsey's, 182 ; Little's, 52 
183; Mollie Hall's, 182 ; Mc 
Kenney's, 47, 185, i~" 
Moody's, 53 ; McGlathry's, 
52-3 ; Reed's, 179, 187 ; Samp 
son's, 52 ; Sproul's, 183 
Steam Mill, 181 ; Thompson's 
51 ; Treat & Co's, 52, 183 
Twelve, 178, 188 ; Union Co\ 
52, 179, 183; Williams', 179, i8d. 

Wheeler, Capt. 103. 

Wheeler's Mills, 6, 8, 36. 

Whittam, 29, 212. 

Whittier, 25. 

Wild Boat of the Atlantic, 73. 

Williamson, 32. 

Wilson, Samuel, 12. 

Winterport Ferry Co., 185. 

Winterport, Me., xi, i, 6, 21, 222; 
area, i ; divided from Hamp- 
den, 46 ; democratic town, 58 ; 
early site, 24 ; grand ball at, 
112 ; latitude and longitude, i ; 
situation, 46 : town divided, i ; 
the winter port, 185. 

Wood Lots, 50, 59, 83, 90, 102, 
163. 

Woodman, Sally. 141- 

Wright, Rev. Mr., 220. 

Yankee Clippers, 73. 
Young, Alexander, 5, 10. 



Kimono Ballades 

Some cheerful rhymes 
For loafing-times. 

J> CHARLES COLEMAN STODDARD 

Bound in Kimono Cloth. $i.oo Net, Postpaid 

(JUST A TASTE) 

A BALLADE OF BETTER CHEER 

Does all the world seem dull and gray. 

And all your plans and hopes askew? 
Does Monday meet you every day, 

And all your troubles stick like glue ? 

And all your bills are overdue ? 
You scarcely know what you're about ? 

What is the use of being blue ? 
Smoke up, old man, your pipe is out. 

This is one of the most attractive little books 
of the season ; just the thing for odd moments 
for yourself or your friend. The verses are 
bright and snappy, the binding not only dainty 
but unique. 



CAI^KINS and COMPANY, Publishers 
27 East aand Street, New York 



Two Huch Needed Books 



FATE OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES 

By Walter Q. Cooper. 
200 Pages, Cloth. $1.25 Net, Postpaid. 

Mr. Cooper is Secretary of the Atlanta Chamber 
of Commerce, and he has written this book for the 
benefit of the masses, for whom there is no subject 
more potently absorbing than that of the economic 
conditions that confront us to-day. This book con- 
tains information everybody should possess. 



TECHNIQUE OF MUSICAL 
EXPRESSION 

By Albert Qerard-Thiers 

110 Pages, Cloth. $1.08 Postpaid. 

Mr. Thiers is one of the foremost teachers of 
vocal music in New York. In this book is em- 
bodied his system of musical expression which is 
so simple that by it the student is enabled to inter- 
pret anything, from the classics to a coon song, 
according to the best ideas of musical art. To 
study this system under Mr. Thiers himself, would 
cost many times the price of the book. 



CAI/KINS and COMPANY, Publishers 
27 East aand Street, New York 



CLEAR SHINING 
AFTER RAIN 

AND OTHER STORIES 

By STELLA BREYFOGLE McDONALD 
Drawings by Lillian Marie Harmer 

Twelve short stories of exceptional human 
interest, printed in Cheltenham Old Style on 
heavy, deckle edge paper of extra quality, and 
bound in gray silk cloth with title in gold leaf 
and a three color picture in violet tones, mounted 
in three panels with cream leaf framework. Full 
gilt tops, put up in a box with picture label. 

212 Pages, 5 Illustrations. $1.12 Postpaid. 



CALKINS and COMPANY, Publishers 
27 ISast 22nd Street, New York 



W 77 7B 








^ov^ :^ 








'^ 



J:' 



V 
















- ^"^ 




O. * o » 










FOLDOUT 



FOLDOUT 



f o 


















o V 












vS 



v^ 



'^V'^^ 






•\ 



\ 






o V 



^^' 

r" . 









0^ - v 



.^ ^.-. 



V^ ,^ 



^v ^ ■■ •' • 

O > 






(J,*- o * » , M» . 



-^0^ 









^^-^^^ 



^^. 






^°-n^. 



<^. 



'/^^e^:' 




JAN 73 



l# 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




013 995 884 6 



